BDD in Action, Performance Golden Rule and More! TGNS79

[00:00:00] Joe Colantonio Have you seen the new low-code API testing feature that simplifies the API testing process? Do you want to know a proven way to really use BDD correctly? And do you know the performance Golden Rule? Find out in this episode of the Automation DevSecOps News Show for the week of April 30th. So grab your favorite cup of coffee or tea and let's do this.

[00:00:20] Joe Colantonio Are you looking to take your automation project to the next level? Look now further, then Applitools in that visual AI validation testing. Trust me, it is a game-changer. Plus, if you try it out for yourself for free by creating an account using this special link in the comments down below and see the difference for yourself. And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe to get alerted every time I release a new episode.

[00:00:44] Joe Colantonio First up, Automation news.

[00:00:46] Joe Colantonio I was on vacation in sick most of April. I'm still recovering, so a lot of these news items are from the past weeks of April, and this is actually what I announced on social media a few weeks ago. But I want to also cover it on the news show because I think it's going to help a lot of testers, and that is TestSigma has announced and launched their new low code API testing feature. And we had the folks from TestSigma on the Test Automation podcast. Last year they were talking about Test Sigma and all the new features that they're adding. And so this is just the latest in what they're calling a way to help quality teams perform API testing by simplifying the process and making it more accessible to the whole QA team. And also this low code API testing feature eliminates the need for multiple tools and scripting knowledge, allowing even non-technical users to create and maintain automated, standalone, and integrated API tests. Users can now easily set up tests by entering the endpoint, selecting the API method, adding header content, and setting a status code. Some key highlights of this feature include a truly scriptless way to do API test assertions which will help save time on test creation including your API tests for multiple data sets without changing the script and has a lot of flexible options for comparing actual response values with the expected API responses. It has enhanced controls and flexibility for capturing runtime data from API responses for use in subsequent tests. It also supports validating APIs using different REST API methods and creating data-driven API tests from multiple data sources, and you can use it to seamlessly integrate with popular CI/CD tools and real-time test execution reports to help improve your testing efficiency. I highly recommend you check out this new feature because I think API testing is something a lot of people have missed out on it. You can find it in the first comment down below.

[00:02:42] Joe Colantonio Is test automation an illusion? Well, according to Paul Grizzaffi, it just might be. How do you know? Let's find out. So once again, Paul has released a must-read blog post. Once again, he released this a few weeks ago. Like I said, I've been sick. I've been out. So that's why I want to show it on this episode. I was in a podcast interview with Paul all about this, and as always, Paul uses music to kind of show principles in testing to illustrate how much things that he can relate to music in general. And in this article, he uses the Styx Classic album The Grand Illusion, as a thematic backdrop. So Paul shares his insights on the misconceptions surrounding automation testing, the potential pitfalls of blindly following big name company strategies, and the importance of striking the balance between automation and human expertise. He also explores the critical aspects of weighing the cross of benefits when adopting new automation tools and understands the actual value of automation when placed in the hands of experienced professionals. You definitely want to check this out. And also while you're at it, you might as well listen to the podcast interview as well where I actually pit Paul Grizzaffi against ChatGPT to see who wins the battle between music analogies and testing. You definitely want to check that out as well.

[00:04:00] Joe Colantonio So another article I found I think you should check out is by Wayne and it's on test-driven development. And he doesn't talk about is automation an illusion. It talks about is test-driven development really testing. And so he posts this on LinkedIn once again a few weeks ago. I don't know if everyone's ever read DayCart when he talks about I think therefore I am. So this article kind of reminds me of that, where I test there for our testing, I'm not sure. But really he breaks down what is test-driven development, his personal experience working with a coding project using TDD and he describes the process of writing unit test or writing the code which allows behavior described in the test to drive the design, to develop the process he kind of ponders whether he is testing or doing something else. But now he goes on to point out other highlights and learnings around TDD and how it can provide moments of learning and exploration that is similar to testing or testing activities outside of development activities. Thank you, Wayne, once again for this awesome resource.

[00:05:01] Joe Colantonio Well, as you probably could tell, I love books, and so that's why I want to highlight this next book. I love this book. I keep talking about this book. John Ferguson Smart does not pay me for this. This is the first edition. I have great news. If you have read this book, but if you haven't read this book. You're going to get even better insight from it because John Ferguson Smart just announced that he has released the second version of BDD in Action. And this new edition is pretty much a total rewrite of the first edition. So if you like the first one like I do, you're going to definitely love the second edition even better. If you haven't read the first one, then you are in for a special treat. A lot of people give BDD a bad rap and it's I think it's because they don't understand BDD correctly or they don't implement it correctly. And if you really want to get benefits on behavior-driven development, you need to do it correctly. This is like one of the only books I know that actually uses it correctly, but the way that integrates with automation that gives you the best of both worlds. Definitely check it out. And thank you once again, John, for this book.

[00:06:02] Joe Colantonio Also, Selenium announced a new release of Selenium WebDriver and they announced the release of version 4.90 for Java, .Net, Ruby Python, and JavaScript as well as the Grid, and Internet Explorer driver. And the new version comes with several updates and enhancements to improve your experience as you can see it in the link down below.

[00:06:25] Joe Colantonio I've been kicking around this idea in my head for a while about writing a book and I am finally and close to releasing it. I wanted to share my progress with you. So the book is going to be called Automation Awesomeness 260 actionable affirmations to improve your QA and automation testing skills. And if you join below, you'll be one of the first few people to learn when the book launches get bonuses. And you also might get a discount or free copy. But I've just got back the copy of how it's going to be formatted, which you could see here, which I think is really cool. So it's just a matter of me now getting it fully formatted. Hopefully, you'll check it out and let me know what you think.

[00:07:02] Joe Colantonio In performance news, I found out about the Golden Rule of performance. This blog post is by Tim, who goes over a conversation on Twitter about the performance Golden Rule. If you don't know the performance Golden Rule. It states that 80% or 90% of the end user response time is spent on the front end. But a recent analysis found that this rule still holds strong, with even top sites showing an 85 to 15% or a 90 to 10% split between front end and back end. However, the line between front end and back end performance is increasingly blurry with server configurations as JavaScript frameworks affecting both aspects. So instead of focusing on one or the other, experts suggest a holistic approach to performance optimization. Targeting improvements in user experience metrics such as large contentful and time for display, and this article by Tim actually watch a step by step this whole process of this whole concept that you definitely should check out.

[00:07:59] Joe Colantonio I didn't find anything specific to security testing. I did find an article I think you'll find interesting that deals with security in general. So in this recent Harvard Review article, the author argues that managers should think more like hackers if by adopting a hacker mindset, managers can work around ops goals, find opportunities across silos, cultivate a culture of pragmatism, and immobilize staff from the process, set up and goals. To give you some examples about how Airbnb to this as well as some other companies. And it breaks down even more by focusing on essential complexity and stripping away accidental complexity, managers become more adaptive to evolving challenges and preserve the dynamism of the organization's really cool read. And I like how it takes hackers in security and how you can use different kinds of concepts out of that to help you manage any type of project, even automation, security, and performance.

[00:08:54] Joe Colantonio For links of everything of value we covered in this news episode, head in over to links in the first comment down below. And while you're there, make sure to check out our sponsor Applitools free account offer and discover how to take your automation testing to the next level, leveraging visual AI. So that's it for this episode of the Test Guild News Show, I'm Joe, my mission is to help you succeed in creating end-to-end full-stack pipeline DevOps automation awesomeness. As always, test everything and keep the good, cheers.