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Testing foundations

The ideas every framework depends on, taught once. You can skip this and start with a framework, but most people who struggle later skipped this.

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  1. 01What test automation is, and what it is notAutomation does not find bugs. It notices when something that used to work stops working. That difference decides what you should automate.
  2. 02The types of testing, and where your tests fitUnit, integration, end-to-end, API. The words come up in every interview, and the differences change what you should write.
  3. 03What a web application is made ofBrowser, server, request, response, HTML, CSS, JavaScript. Your tests touch all six, and failures usually name one of them.
  4. 04What a user actually does, and what your test copiesYour test simulates a person. Knowing which real events a click produces explains why some tests pass while the app is broken.
  5. 05The DOM, and why it is not what you seeEvery framework finds elements through the DOM. Beginners assume the screen and the DOM match, and that assumption causes real bugs.
  6. 06Browser developer tools, your daily instrumentElements, Console, Network and Application. Four tabs that answer most of the questions a failing test raises.
  7. 07Finding elements, before any framework syntaxEvery framework has different syntax for the same small set of ideas. Learn the ideas and the syntax becomes a detail.
  8. 08Assertions, the part that makes it a testClicking through an app is not testing. The check at the end is the test. Most weak tests are weak here.
  9. 09Arrange, Act, AssertOne pattern shapes almost every test ever written. Once you see it, unfamiliar test code becomes readable.
  10. 10Test data, and why it decides whether your suite is stableTwo tests using the name 'John Smith' will eventually break each other. The fix is a habit, and it is easy once you see it.
  11. 11Waiting and timing, the biggest source of painModern apps load in pieces, and your test is fast enough to arrive early. This is where most beginners lose days.
  12. 12Reading a failure instead of guessingA failure is a report, not a riddle. Four questions turn most red tests into a known cause in minutes.
  13. 13What makes a test worth keepingFour properties separate a suite people trust from one they learn to ignore. Everything else in this track serves these.