“The dark side or test automation and how to avoid the dark side”
Nicolas Carr told us in his book ‘The glass cage’ that the introduction of automation decreases the craftsmanship of the process that is automated. This is also true for testing; with the introduction of test automation the quality of testing (coverage, debt and insight) decreases in a lot of organizations. The presentation will start with this message and I will share some experiences (including some test code) to make this clear.
Secondly I will explain the five most common misunderstandings when it comes to test automation (the wish to automate everything, the wish to save money with test automation, the thought automation makes testing easier, the expectation every tester should learn how to program and the idea that automation means tooling). The different misunderstandings will be explained using examples and experiences.
In the last part of the presentation I will show there is an alternative for the dark side, I will describe what it takes to introduce test automation in the right way. This requires basically two different things: an mature testing process and you need to have the different roles and skills in your team. Diversity of knowledge and skills is what it comes down to.
You will learn
- The consequences of the introduction of technology on skills
- The common mistakes with Test Automation
- How to make Test Automation successful.
Tutor: Jan Jaap Cannegieter (The Netherlands)
Jan Jaap Cannegieter has over 25 years of experience in ICT, he did assignments in requirements, testing, quality assurance, process improvement, Agile and digitalization. Jan Jaap is Principal Consultant at Squerist, a consultancy company of 100 employees specialized in process management and testing. Within Squerist Jan Jaap is responsible for coaching, knowledge management and product development. Jan Jaap is the well-known author of several articles and books in the Netherlands and is a regular (keynote) speaker on international conferences.