Best Online Resources to

Learn Automation Testing

Introduction 3
Online Video Tutorials 4
Test Automation Frameworks 7
Websites to Practice Test Automation 11
E-learning Platforms 13
Books 15
Blogs 23
Webinars / Videos 26
Slides / Presentations 27
Tear Down 28

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Introduction

I spent many years doing software test automation. Throughout those

years I created a list of my favorite resources that helped me improve my
skills.
Below is that list.
Most of the resources for learning test automation are focused on
Selenium WebDriver because it is the most relevant technology today.
However, some general resources are also available to improve your test
automation skills.
There are a lot of resources here, so I have provided a table of contents
to help you navigate to your desired location.

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Online Video Tutorials

1. Selenium 2 WebDriver Basics with Java

Alan Richardson - Selenium WebDriver | Java | $229

There are a ton of Selenium WebDriver courses out there.

Most of them are complete garbage, but Alans course is just awesome. He
will teach you many different aspects of Selenium Webdriver such as:

How to handle iFrames

How to write tests
How to perform user interactions
How to invoke JavaScript
How to work with tabs
And so much more, from basic to advanced

I still go back to it from time to time to see if there is something else that I can
learn.

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2. Selenium Webdriver - Master Synchronization Techniques

$Free | Selenium WebDriver | C# | Visual Studio | MS Test

This is a free Selenium Webdriver course that you can use to seriously improve
the stability of your automated functional tests. Here are some topics that
you will learn:

Learn the problems that can occur as a result of improper

synchronization
Learn how to use Selenium Webdriver explicit waits
Master Selenium Webdriver implicit waits
Understand what a DefaultWait is
Comprehend how to use all of the different types of waits during
appropriate situations

3. C# For QA Automation Engineers Using Selenium Webdriver

$Free | Selenium WebDriver | C# | Visual Studio | MS Test

This is the only course that was designed by a QA Automation Engineer,

based on real experience, and then taught by Dr. Tiffany with over 15 years of
teaching and working experience.Here are just some of the topics that are
covered in extreme depth:

Full 10 hours of high quality C# video tutorial taught by a real professor

You will learn Visual Studio and how to create different types of projects
You will master variables and strings
You will learn math and equality operators
You will know how to use and create methods in C#
You will master classes in C# and Object Oriented principles
You will learn about loops, switches and arrays
You will understand how to do exception handling
You will have a full understanding about how to work with JSON
You will learn how to apply all of your skills to a Selenium Webdriver
automation testing framework

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4. Complete Selenium WebDriver with C# Build A Framework

Nikolay Advolodkin (me)

Selenium WebDriver | C# | Visual Studio | MS Test | $49

Yes, this is a shameless plug for my course, but in all honesty, this is a
wonderful course. It has a 4.4 / 5 rating and over two thousand students.
Some of the topics that you will learn are:

How to write your first automation framework from scratch

The automation testing best practices to make you amazing at your job
The Page Object Model, the most effective way to create automation
testing frameworks
Complete C# for beginners course to make you efficient at coding
frameworks
Visual Studio and MSTest framework
How to work as an automation tester at your job in an Agile lifecycle

Plus theres a free trial where you can discover everything that you will
actually learn.

5. HP QTP / HP UFT Tutorials

QTP Tutorial
HP QTP | HP UFT | VBscript | Free and Paid

If you are seriously looking to improve your QTP( aka UFT) skills, then this
website has all the best videos for that.
Just a few of the topics that you can learn from the 600+ videos include:

VBscript
How to identify objects
API testing with UFT
How to create a Keyword Driven Framework
How to data drive your tests
How to debug your code without message boxes

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Test Automation Frameworks

Did you know that there is an abundance of incredible code out in the
world that has already been developed?
You are not the first person to try and build an Enterprise level test
automation framework.
People have been doing this for decades. This is going to be a list of all
the automation frameworks that I have found through my years of
development.
Most of it is Selenium WebDriver since its what I am currently using. Take
a look at everything to gather some ideas for your efforts.

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1. Selenium WebDriver Framework Ultimate QA

Selenium WebDriver | C# | Page Object Model

This is my open source framework that I teach through my Complete

Selenium Webdriver Course. It is lightweight, easy to use, and is based around
the page object model for easy maintenance. Fork it or download it to get
some new ideas for your future framework.

2. Automate The Planet Frameworks

Anton Angelov
Selenium Webdriver | Test Studio | C#

Anton has a ton of useful code that you can look at. He applies different
design patterns to his code to show you how it would look. For example, you
can see how to use the Strategy Design Pattern, the Facade Design Pattern,
Page Object Model, and Advanced Page Object Model. You can cycle through
it and decide what you want to reuse.

3. SpecFlow BDD Automation

Selenium WebDriver | BDD | C# | Acceptance Testing

SpecFlow is one of the few C# BDD frameworks out there, which

automatically makes it a highly desirable candidate. This framework helps
you to build acceptance tests using business readable specifications.
Therefore, these tests are readable by the developers, testers, and business
personnel. In theory, these tests can replace requirements as they serve as
living documentation.

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4. Golem Automated Testing Framework

Selenium WebDriver | GUI Testing | RESTful testing | SauceLabs

This framework is one of the most feature-rich frameworks that I have ever
seen in the industry. It helps you to build GUI tests, RESTful tests, tests
against Windows applications, and runs all of this locally or in the cloud. I
spent many hours looking at this code and learned a lot.
The creator has some excellent strategies for making very readable tests.
Furthermore, he creates great logs, screenshots, and video recordings to help
debug the failed tests Sadly, I cannot get it to run consistently, but its a great
place to start building from.

5. Gauge

ThoughtWorks
Test Automation

Gauge is a test automation framework designed by the guys that created

Selenium WebDriver. Although I havent explored it myself, it does seem
interesting, since it was created by the Selenium guys. They do seem to create
resources that change the world. Its a resource I will look at in the future, and
you should as well.

6. RedwoodHQ

Test Automation | Keyword Driven | C# | Java | Python

This is an open source keyword-driven framework that allows users to build

keyword-driven actions in order to create their tests through a simple user
interface. They have integration capabilities with source control, continuous
integration, and many others. Im not a big fan of keyword-driven
frameworks, but if they are your cup of tea, then you should look at
RedwoodHQ. Here are some great links to get you started:
Quick Start Guide
Documentation
Release Notes

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7. Serenity

Automation Framework | BDD | Java

Serenity is a BDD framework that works with Java and Selenium WebDriver.
Serenity also offers functionality such as:
Providing WebDriver management
Taking screenshots
Running tests in parallel
Facilitating Jira integration
I have not personally used it, but I know some people that use it and they all
say fantastic things about Serenity. It makes me a bit jealous that it doesnt
integrate with my Visual Studio.

8. Robot Framework

Automation Framework | ATDD | Python | Jython | Iron Python

Robot framework is a generic test automation framework for acceptance

testing and acceptance test-driven development (ATDD). This framework
utilizes a keyword-driven approach for its testing. Furthermore, its testing
capabilities can be extended using either Java or Python.

9. BDD Selenium Framework

Alister Scott
Selenium WebDriver | BDD | Specflow | C#

If you are looking to build Behavior Driven Development tests using Selenium
WebDriver and C#, then Alister has the code that you want to see. He utilized
SpecFlow framework to run his tests. I always recommend that you look at all
the code you can to acquire knowledge from other individuals.

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Websites to Practice Test Automation

1. QTP Tutorials Test Automation Practice Page

A free place to practice different identification techniques such as:

Using html id to interact with your element

Utilizing html class to interact with your elements
Filling out different forms
Practicing signing up for an email list
Automating login scenarios

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2. Awful Valentine

Another free website that I got from a book I read called Selenium Design
Patterns. This website is a simulator of an online store where you can
purchase different kinds of items. You can try to automate items such as:

Slow AJAX Credit card transactions

Slow animation Online store checkout
Third party links scenarios

3. Dave Haeffners Practice Site

Dave designed an excellent place to practice different kinds of test

automation scenarios. Some of the scenarios that you can try to automate
include:

A/B Testing Slow connections

Basic Auth Dynamic content
File Upload Hovers
Challenging DOM Redirect links
iFrames

4. Fake Online Investment Site

This is an online investment website where you can practice different

automation techniques like user creation and money transaction validations. I
got this website from the book A Practitioner's Guide to Software Test Design.
Please use the Authorization Code 11111111, and you will be able to register
for the site and login to practice your automated software testing.

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E-learning Platforms

These are websites that contain a bunch of very useful courses. Some are
paid and some are free. Take a look and search for your desired topic.

1. Udacity

Software Testing | Programming | Git | Free & Paid

This is a great site with very high-quality videos. The videos are recorded so
you can take interactive quizzes based on the content that is drawn on the
page, during the video. The instructor may ask you to identify the correct
solution to a problem, write four answer choices, and then you can interact
with the User Interface to select the correct choice. Two of my favorite free
courses are Software Testing and How To Use Git and Github.

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2. Coursera

Online University | Free & Paid

Their motto is Take free online courses from top universities. Therefore, you
can take real college courses online. Most are completely free. The only catch
is you actually have to participate in the course because they have hard start
dates, homework, and quizzes. Some courses that you can partake in include:
Software Security
Testing With Agile
Mastering The Software Engineering Interview
Reviews & Metrics for Software Improvements

3. Pluralsight

IT Training

This is a topnotch site with some of the best professionals teaching great
topics. These professionals include John Sonmez, Aaron Frost, and Scott
Allen. You can learn different programming languages like Java, C#, and
Python by watching video tutorials. You can also learn automation tools like
Selenium WebDriver, Coded UI, NUnit, Visual Studio Test, and much more. All
of the video tutorials come with code and notes that you can use in order to
enhance your retention rate.
Some of my favorite courses include:
Automated Business Readable Web Tests with Selenium and SpecFlow
Automated Web Testing with Selenium
Quick Guide to API Testing with HP's Unified Functional Testing
Creating an Automated Testing Framework With Selenium

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Books

If you want to master test automation, you must read, as there is a

wealth of information in books. I read a bunch of these, and every single
one has added an extra weapon to my automation arsenal.

1. Selenium Design Patterns by Dima Kovalenko

Selenium Design Patterns by Dima is an

excellent book that will teach you some very
valuable automation design patterns,
regardless of the tools that you use.

You will learn:

Hermetic Design Pattern
Page Object Pattern
Spaghetti Antipattern
And much more

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2. QuickTest Professional Unplugged by Tarun Lalwani

This is a book focused on QTP, also known as

UFT. This book is perfect for any level of
automation engineer. Furthermore, since UFT
still uses VBscript, this book is still relevant in
todays industry.

A few of the topics covered include:

Data Tables
Actions
QTP Environment Variables
Utility Objects
Checkpoints
Descriptive Programming
Debugging in QTP
Regular expressions
HTML DOM
When I was doing automated testing with UFT,
I would always refer back to this book to see if
there was a golden nugget of information that
could help me.

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3. QTP Descriptive Programming Unplugged by Tarun Lalwani and

Anshoo Arora

This book has so much amazing code and

insight for QTP/UFT. The time that you will
save by reading this book will make you an
invaluable employee to your company.
Speaking from experience, I believe that over
75% of the individuals working with QTP/UFT
Automation know less than 5% of the concepts
in this book. Be more valuable than the rest!

Here are some of the topics that you will

learn:
Descriptive Programming
Visual Relation Identifiers
Child Objects
HTML DOM
Web Tables
Localization techniques and design
patterns
Object identification using XPath
Working with QTP XML OR
Testing Web Services

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4. Experiences of Test Automation by Dorothy Graham and Mark

Fewster

This is an excellent resource for test

automation. Dorothy and Mark have a lot of
experience and help you to overcome many
hurdles when dealing with test automation.
You will learn some valuable techniques for
how to prioritize automation, what to
automate, how to automate, management
issues, and technical issues. You can also learn
database automation, regression testing in
production, and automating the testing of
complex government systems. Its funny
because even today, I still see people making a
lot of mistakes that could be overcome by
reading this resource.

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5. Agile Testing by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

I originally picked up this book to become a

better tester in general. Although I am still
reading this book, I have learned some
valuable information.

Some things that you will learn are:

How to overcome barriers to test
automation
How to get testers engaged in agile
development
Where testers and QA managers fit on an
agile team
What to look for when hiring an agile tester
How to transition from a traditional cycle
to agile development
How to complete testing activities in short
iterations
How to use tests to successfully guide
development

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6. Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin

Fowler and Kent Beck

I dont care what anyone says. A good Test

Automation Engineer is a good programmer.

Now, we may never work for Google

developing Google Chrome, but we should
have the capability to understand good code
and write good code.

We should have the capability to design a

maintainable, robust, and flexible test
automation framework. When we face one
that isnt good, we should have the capability
to refactor it.

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7. Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship by

Robert C. Martin

I just started this book by Uncle Bob, and I am

really excited to go through it and improve my
coding capabilities. This book promises to
make your code awesome as long as you do
the due diligence and practice everything that
he preaches. Furthermore, Uncle Bob tells the
best stories.

Some of the topics that are covered include:

How to write meaningful names
How to write good functions
How to handle comments
How to deal with objects and data
structures
How to do proper error handling
How to write unit tests

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8. xUnit Test Patterns: Refactoring Test Code

Although I have not read this book, it is

definitely on my list as it has been mentioned
by multiple authorities as one of the must
read books. Here is a quick snippet from the
cover:

Automated testing is a cornerstone of agile

development. An effective testing strategy will
deliver new functionality more aggressively,
accelerate user feedback, and improve quality.
However, for many developers, creating
effective automated tests is a unique and
unfamiliar challenge. xUnit Test Patterns is the
definitive guide to writing automated tests
using xUnit, the most popular unit testing
framework in use today. Agile coach and test
automation expert Gerard Meszaros describes
68 proven patterns for making tests easier to
write, understand, and maintain. He then
shows you how to make them more robust and
repeatable - and far more cost-effective.

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Blogs

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.
For example:
Learn test automation
Learn about pair testing
Learn about security testing
Learn QTP / UFT
Learn mobile test automation
This is my default blog for general QA learning. I strongly recommend that
you check it out.

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2. Ultimate QA

Nikolay Advolodkin
Selenium Webdriver | Automation Testing | Quality Assurance | Software Testing

This is my home base where I talk about everything related to QA with a

serious focus on automated software testing using Selenium WebDriver. I
have both posts and actual video tutorials that teach you step-by-step.
Here are some examples of what you can learn:
Complete Selenium Webdriver with C# Course
Introduction to Sauce Labs and Browser Stack
Selenium Webdriver User Interactions
Common Selenium Webdriver Errors and How to Fix Them
How to Work with iFrames using Selenium Webdriver

3. Simple Programmer

John Sonmez
IT | Development | Life Skills | Software Testing

I definitely had to put this site in here, not because Im a writer for it, but
simply because it contains an amalgam of useful information.
For example, you can read about:
How To Move From Beginner To Advanced Programming?
What Programming Language Should I Learn First
Selenium Webdriver Tutorial Master Synchronization
Proper Test Case Design for Testing Part 2 Boundary Value Analysis
Go there and search for a topic. You will be sure to find a great read.

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4. Automate The Planet

Anton Angelov
Test Automation | C# | Jenkins | Visual Studio | TFS | Telerik Test Studio

Anton delivers high-quality content that helps me to grow as a Test

Automation Specialist. He covers a bunch of amazing topics related to test
automation. For example:
Compelling Sundays will have a collection of his favorite posts
A complete series on design patterns for test automation
A ton of articles on C# and Visual Studio
Deep coverage of Selenium Webdriver
Test automation with Jenkins

5. Elemental Selenium

Dave Haeffner
Selenium WebDriver | Ruby

This is a serious gold mine of information when it comes to Selenium

WebDriver. Forget that its only with Ruby; thats 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:
How to work with Selenium Grid
How to use Safari
How to do load testing with JMeter and Selenium
How to test for broken images

6. Test Insane

Software Testing

Test Insane is a great blog that has a bunch of useful mind maps for test
automation. Some of my favorite mind maps are:
Security Testing
Cross Browser Testing
Mobile Testing

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Webinars / Videos

1. Building an Automation Framework That Scales

Test Automation | Scalability

This is a great webinar from Telerik by Peter Kim that goes into depth about
how to build a test automation framework that scales. He teaches a really
interesting technique where he controls all of his objects through an XML file,
therefore, making his tests externally configurable without the need to
modify code.

2. Getting Test Automation Right

Test Automation Techniques

This video is a Zephyr presentation regarding the best techniques to get test
automation right. The presentation is really fantastic because of the guests on
this webinar. Dave Haeffner, Joe Colantonio, and John Sonmez are three
powerful minds that share their experience here. They cover everything from
basic Selenium Webdriver tips to advanced topics to help improve the
stability of your tests.

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Slides / Presentations

1. Test Automation Trends for 2016 and Beyond

Test Automation | Trends | Frameworks | Languages

Joe Colantonio talks about the latest trends in the IT industry so that you can
make better decisions for your career. Topics include which test automation
tools are growing, what programming languages you should learn, what
development methodologies will dominate the future, and the future of Test
Driver Development, and these are just a few of the insights provided by this
excellent SlideShare.

2. Managing Continuous Delivery of Mobile Apps for the Enterprise

Continuous Integration | Automated Testing

What we have here is an excellent SlideShare presentation regarding

Continuous Integration and a good approach to implementing it. Sauce Labs
talks about source control, build tools, CI tools, self-testing builds, and much
more.

3. Three Approaches to Optimizing your Selenium Test Designs

Test Design | Selenium WebDriver

This is a great SlideShare that describes the positives and negatives of the
Page Object model, Keyword Driven Frameworks, and Behavior Driven
Development.

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Tear Down

I hope that you really enjoyed all of these helpful automation testing
resources.

They are some of the best that I have found over my years and I wanted
to share them with you. Feel free to let me know what you think in the
comments below. Until next time, my friend.

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