3 Days

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This course is based on the ISTQB® Advanced Level Test Automation Engineer Syllabus released in 2016.

The Advanced Level qualification is aimed at people who wish to build on the knowledge and skills acquired at the ISTQB Foundation Level and develop further their expertise in one or more specific areas. The modules offered at the Advanced Level Specialist cover a wide range of testing topics.

A Test Automation Engineer is one who has broad knowledge of testing in general, and an in-depth understanding in the special area of test automation. An in-depth understanding is defined as having sufficient knowledge of test automation theory and practice to be able to influence the direction that an organization and/or project takes when designing, developing and maintaining test automation solutions for functional tests.

By taking this course, you will obtain the knowledge and techniques needed to:

• Contribute to the development of a plan to integrate automated testing within the testing process
• Evaluate tools and technology for automation best fit to each project and organization.
• Create an approach and methodology for building a test automation architecture (TAA).
• Design and develop (new or modified) test automation solutions that meet the business needs.
• Enable the transition of testing from a manual to an automated approach.
• Create automated test reporting and metrics collection.
• Manage and optimize testing assets to facilitate maintainability and address evolving (test) systems.

Your instructor for the course is Randall (Randy) W. Rice, a software testing consultant and practionioner with over 30 years in experience in QA and Testing. Randall has been working with test automation since 1988 and teaching test automation since 1990. He has worked with many of the tools available commercially and in the open source community. In addition to being a consultant and trainer, Randy still works hands-on with test automation and has helped his clients reduce their test cycle times dramatically by a practical use of test automation. At the managment consulting level, Randy works with senior managers to help define and execute the most workable test automation strategy for their unique context. Randy has the ability to make complex concepts simple to understand, even at the advanced level.

Pre-requisites

Candidates must hold the ISTQB Foundation Level certificate [ISTQB-CTFL], plus have three or more years of software testing experience (or a related field) to sit for the Advanced Level Test Automation Engineer certification exam. However, anyone may attend the course.

Learning Objectives

• Explain the objectives, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of test automation.
• Identify technical success factors of a test automation project.
• Analyze a system under test to determine the appropriate automation solution.
• Analyze test automation tools for a given project and report technical findings and recommendations.
• Understand "design for testability" and "design for test automation" methods applicable to the SUT.
• Explain the structure of the Generic Test Automation Architecture.
• Analyze factors of implementation, use, and maintenance requirements for a given Test Automation Solution.
• Explain the factors to be considered when identifying reusability of components.
• Apply guidelines that support effective test tool pilot and deployment activities.
• Analyze deployment risks and identify technical issues that could lead to failure of the test automation project, and plan mitigation strategies.
• Understand which factors support and affect maintainability.
• Classify metrics that can be used to monitor the test automation strategy and effectiveness.
• Explain how a test execution report is constructed and published.
• Apply criteria for determining the suitability of tests for automation.
• Understand the factors in transitioning from manual to automation testing.
• Explain the factors to consider in implementing automated regression testing, new feature testing, and confirmation testing.
• Verify the correctness of an automated test environment including test tool setup.
• Verify the correct behaviour for a given automated test script and/or test suite.
• Analyze the technical aspects of a deployed test automation solution and provide recommendations for improvement.

Topics

Module 1 - Introduction and Objectives for Test Automation - 30 mins.
1.1 Purpose of Test Automation
1.2 Success Factors in Test Automation

Module 2 - Preparing for Test Automation - 165 mins.
2.1 SUT Factors Influencing Test Automation    
2.2 Tool Evaluation and Selection  
2.3 Design for Testability and Automation

Module 3 - The Generic Test Automation Architecture - 270 mins.
3.1 Introduction to gTAA
      3.1.1 Overview of the gTAA
      3.1.2 Test Generation Layer
      3.1.3 Test Definition Layer
      3.1.4 Test Execution Layer
      3.1.5 Test Adaptation Layer
      3.1.6 Configuration Management of a TAS
      3.1.7 Project Management of a TAS
      3.1.8 TAS Support for Test Management
3.2 TAA Design
      3.2.1 Introduction to TAA Design
      3.2.2 Approaches for Automating Test Cases
      3.2.3 Technical considerations of the SUT
      3.2.4 Considerations for Development/QA Processes
3.3 TAS Development
      3.3.1 Introduction to TAS Development
      3.3.2 Compatibility between the TAS and the SUT
      3.3.3 Synchronization between TAS and SUT
      3.3.4 Building Reuse into the TAS
      3.3.5 Support for a Variety of Target Systems

Module 4 - Deployment Risks and Contingencies - 150 mins
4.1 Selection of Test Automation Approach and Planning of Deployment/Rollout
      4.1.1 Pilot Project
      4.1.2 Deployment
      4.1.3 Deployment of the TAS Within the Software Lifecycle
4.2 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies
4.3 Test Automation Maintenance
      4.3.1 Types of Maintenance
      4.3.2 Scope and Approach

Module 5 - Test Automation Reporting and Metrics - 165 mins.
5.1 Selection of TAS Metrics
5.2 Implementation of Measurement
5.3 Logging of the TAS and the SUT
5.4 Test Automation Reporting

Module 6 - Transitioning Manual Testing to an Automated Environment - 120 mins.
6.1 Criteria for Automation
6.2 Identify Steps Needed to Implement Automation within Regression Testing
6.3 Factors to Consider when Implementing Automation within New Feature Testing
6.4 Factors to Consider when Implementing Automation of Confirmation Testing

Module 7 - Verifying the TAS - 120 mins
7.1 Verifying Automated Test Environment Components
7.2 Verifying the Automated Test Suite

Module 8 - Continuous Improvement - 150 mins.
8.1 Options for Improving Test Automation
8.2 Planning the Implementation of Test Automation Improvement

Portions of this text are copyright 2016 International Software Testing Qualifications Board ISTQB® and used by permission granted in the ISTQB® Advanced Level Test Automation Engineer Syllabus.