Should an automation tester have programming skills?

Published: November 8, 2016 2 min. read
Svitla Team
By Svitla Team
Quality Assurance Web Development
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Today many projects automate routine test cases, so they can run alone or in parallel with manual testing. Automating testing helps reduce time and effort for regression and other routine testing operations. Manual testing still has the benefits of a creative approach, but the IT industry steadily moves towards the automated testing or semi-automated testing. Unfortunately, not every manual QA engineer can work with automated tests without basic programming skills. 

Having a programming background will simplify the move to automation for a QA engineer. The programming skills can help testers to communicate better with developers and to participate in unit testing for inner functionality. As automation tests are closely connected with code, the knowledge of the programming language that the team works with is one of the critical requirements for a tester. If the product is written in Ruby, then the tester needs to have Ruby experience on his/her resume. 

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Often other required skills, except for definite programming language (Java, C/C++, Ruby, Python, Perl), include  knowing SQL and relational databases, experience with HTTP/HTTPS, HTML, CSS, JS, XML and testing APIs. Knowing one of the frameworks (i.e., Cucumber for Ruby) would definitely be an advantage. 

Without programming skills, a tester can only use some simple keyword-driven frameworks that convert different scenarios into code automatically, but this doesn’t work for every project and, as a rule, requires interaction with developers. A tester, who wants to grow professionally and have a strong resume, should learn programming and get experience in automation testing. 

To become an automation QA engineer, one can start with learning any automation technology. The most popular now are:

  • Selenium
  • JMeter
  • LoadRunner
  • QTP
  • xUnit 

Each team, of course, uses different technologies and if a QA automation engineer has strong programming skills, he/she can learn different technologies quickly to make sure that he/she integrates smoothly into the team.  

To start learning programming for automation testing, please find the simplest test scenario on the project that you need to repeat a thousand times. Then create a simple automation script to run it and check the result of the test. This will motivate you to create more and more scripts and avoid manual procedures whenever possible.

Written by
Svitla Team
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FAQ

What is the automation testing?

Automation testing uses tools and scripts for the execution of repetitive test cases, i.e., regression and other routine checks, rather than executing them manually each time. It requires knowledge of programming and whatever tech stack is being used in the project (possibly Java, Ruby, Python, SQL, web technologies, and Selenium or xUnit) so that there is a way to interact directly with the application’s code and APIs. Manual testing will long remain quite useful creatively and exploratorily; however, the industry trends are strongly moving to automated or semi-automated methodologies to assist in efforts towards time reduction as well as labor reduction. The ability for testers to program tests as well as use automation tools makes test execution more efficient while working better with developers toward becoming full Automation QA engineers.

What are the skills required for automation testing?

Tests are code and must be implemented in the language of implementation, so strong programming skills in that language are required by its team members, in Java, C/C++, Ruby, Python, or Perl. SQL, relational databases over HTTP/HTTPS, and HTML, CSS, JavaScript, plus XML too, should be understood by an automation tester, and API testing knowledge is a plus for them. Knowledge about different testing frameworks and tools, such as Selenium, JMeter, LoadRunner, QTP, xUnit, or behavior-driven frameworks like Cucumber, will add more value to someone’s profile. Technically sound people design very effective scripts that work hand-in-hand with developers and pick up any new tools quickly.

How to start automation testing for beginners?

For novice initiates, the easiest way to get into automation software testing is to study a programming language first that is related to the projects one wishes to undertake. After gaining some basic programming experience, he or she should select a simple repetitive test scenario from any project usually executed in manual mode; design an automation script to run this scenario and check the results. This hands-on approach will push you not only to learn about the practical application of automation but also inspire you to develop further scripts in order to cut down manual labor in the future.

What is the most used automation tool?

There is no one “most used” automation tool by every team, but the most widely adopted tools by beginners and experienced testers would be Selenium web application testing. It supports multiple programming languages, which is the reason behind its popularity, and integrates with many testing frameworks (such as the xUnit family tools) and works across different browsers. Other commonly used tools are JMeter and LoadRunner for performance testing, and QTP (UFT) for functional test automation. The “most used” tool in practice varies by the project’s technology stack and test requirements – not to mention a team’s expertise.

Can I learn automation testing on my own?

Absolutely, you can learn automation testing by yourself! Everything depends on getting initial programming skills, as testing is completely coded. To begin with, select a programming language that is extensively used in testing, for instance, Python or Ruby, then check out some popular automation tools like Selenium. A feasible way is to pick an easy, repetitive task in a project and attempt to automate it via a script. This will give a personal taste as well as a good understanding of the field by improving techniques and building confidence to take on further big, challenging automation tasks.