Today, while doing a live Q&A session at Automation Guild, I got an excellent question that stumped me. I was asked, “How to be able to navigate between the good and bad content on the web?”. And this is a phenomenal question because it applies to all the things that we do on the web. And although I do not have one right answer, I have thought of some steps that can help you to find the right resource. In this article, we will explore some good online resources for test automtion.

My Trusted Automation Resources

Now, I am not saying that the way I do things is the best. However, I have been around the industry for a while and I can give you some advice. It’s always up to you to do your own research. But if you feel like I am a trustworthy source, then follow my resources to help you do automation right. These are resources that I believe provide good and valuable information on test automation.

My Best Online Resources to Learn Automation Testing Guide

In 2016, I created a guide that shows you all my favorite resources for learning test automation online. I have used and vetted 99% of these resources. Therefore, if you trust my knowledge, I recommend you read this guide and go after the resources of your choice to help you tackle your specific problems.

More Concise List

Although, I strongly recommend that you check out the resource guide that I mentioned, if you desire a more concise list of some general resources I trust, here it is:

1) JoeColantonio.com

Joe Colantonio

Automation Testing | QA | Development

Without a doubt, Joe is one of my favorite thought leaders in test automation. Joe constantly provides quality content regarding all kinds of different subjects. You can easily trust all of the individuals that he has on his Test Talks show. Also, anyone that was on the Automation Guild is a true expert in their craft, use them. Some things that you can learn are:

2) Elemental Selenium

Dave Haeffner

Selenium WebDriver | Ruby

Dave Haeffner is a very trustworthy individual when it comes to learning functional test automation. His blog is a serious gold mine of information when it comes to Selenium WebDriver. Forget that it’s only with Ruby; that’s irrelevant. If you want to learn how to perform impressive tasks with Selenium WebDriver, go through the archives and admire the code. Here are a few examples:

3) SeleniumSimplified.com

Alan Richardson

Alan is by far one of my favorite Selenium Webdriver instructors in the world. He is extremely knowledgeable and he is one of the few individuals that I would personally listen to when it comes to automation with Selenium Webdriver and Java. There might be a few others that I’m not familiar with.

4) PluralSight.com

This is more of a learning platform with a bunch of courses. However, all the courses that I have taken here have been top-notch. The information here is excellent and you will not be steered wrong.

My Un-Trustworthy Automation Resources

If I am going to guide you into better automation, I need to be honest. Therefore, I am going to call out some resources that in my opinion you should stay away from.

1)Anyone talking about Record + Replay

If any individual is telling you that you can use Record+Replay to create awesome automated functional tests, then they don’t know what they’re doing. Smile and let their information go out the other ear.

2)Anyone trying to use UFT/QTP for web automation

Any individual that is stuck to the HP Tool set cannot possibly have the expertise that you desire to write good functional test automation. It’s simple. The tool sucks and it limits your potential in dozens of ways. No matter how hard you work, your automation will always be sub-par. I know, that was me at one point. Read my article if you want to hear my strong thoughts on this topic.

3) Most(not all) courses on Udemy.com

If I’m being honest and guiding you, most of the Selenium resources on Udemy.com are garbage. At least most on the front page, which is where I look.  I think I’m registered to at least 5 courses there to learn from others, and all of them leave me sadly disappointed. Therefore, don’t touch those. You are better off going to Pluralsight, Alan’s site for Java, or any of the individuals that you hear at the Automation Guild 2017. And of course, my personal site, Ultimate QA.

Talk To Others

The final recommendation that I can make is for you to talk to others. The greatest success that I have had with functional test automation is through collaboration. Bouncing ideas allows you to get out of your square box and experience the way other people think. You can’t think of every outcome, therefore, it’s vital that you talk to others.

  1. Post your questions on StackOverflow.com.
  2. Talk to Developers working with you and ask them for advice. I’ve never come across one that wasn’t interested in helping someone to improve their code.
  3. Talk to your team members. If you are lucky enough to have some other individuals on your automation team, bounce ideas off of them. Talk about positives and negatives of different approaches and decide what works best for you.

Final Thoughts

I don’t know of a single formula that can easily tell you whether an online resource is good or bad. Personally, I learned to separate the good from the bad with experience. However, I know that this is not helpful for those that are starting out. Therefore, use my recommendations above. It will be an excellent place for you to start. Drastically decreasing the chances that you will end up in a black hole holding up the entire architecture of a framework coded around UFT.

As always, I am here for you. Post your questions and I will do my best to help!

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