AI in Testing, Magic Quadrant, Tylor Swift is Back and More TGNS88

[00:00:00] Joe Colantonio How do you integrate A.I. with software testing? Want to know one of the better BDD frameworks? And what tool just ranked highest on the Gartner Magic Quadrant Application Performance Monitoring and Observerability? Find out in this episode of the Test Guild News Show for the week of July 16th. So grab your favorite cup of coffee or tea and let's do this.

[00:00:20] Before we get into it, are you looking to take your automation projects to the next level? Look no further than Applitools and their Visual AI Validation testing. Trust me, it is a game-changer. Plus, you could try it out yourself by creating a free account now. By clicking this special link first comment down below and see the difference for yourself.

[00:00:39] Joe Colantonio First article comes your way by Subodh, he's a software engineer and it discusses the implementation of the page object model I think is really going to help you with your automation. This post actually covers implementing the POM design pattern with an object repository that I thought was interesting. In the post, Subodh, emphasizes the importance of POM in enhancing the maintainability and reliability of automation code. It goes on to explain how each webpage or user interface UI component is represented by a separate class called a page object, which encapsulates the elements and behaviors of the corresponding webpage or UI component. He also demonstrates how to store UI locators in an external JSON file acting as an object repository, and this is used to separate code interactions with UI and locators and also provides an example of how to add locators for various fields. And this post also serves as a valuable resource for software developers and testers looking to improve their automation code's maintainability and reusability. Definitely something you should check out and you can find it in the first comment down below.

[00:01:42] Joe Colantonio Also, Jason Arbon is back on the show with even more A.I. Automation awesomeness. In this latest blog post, it's called Testing Bolt-on AI, and it's a really thought-provoking discussion on the integration of APIs and specifically using open APIs ChatGPT with software testing. Also, Jason argues that testers often underutilize AI capabilities sticking to predictable and cise interactions, and he encourages testers to use their skills to reveal more complex test cases to learn from AI, virtually adding expert testers to the team for free. And Jason also demonstrates this by engaging in a dialog with ChatGPT about boundary testing. And it shows how the AI when asked to think beyond the typical answers, provides comprehensive and well-thought-out responses proving its potential to enhance test coverage. Jason also includes by arguing that testers give AI the same opportunities to explain, elaborate, and iterate on a topic in conversation, just as they would with a human colleague.

[00:02:45] Joe Colantonio Speaking of AI, I have a free webinar you should check out that's going to help you with generative AI. This is the webinar I'll be hosting next week it's with Todd from Reflect, and it's going to be a demonstration of how generative AI can revolutionize the way we build test software. This webinar is going to focus on Reflect's integration with open APIs ChatGPT which allows testers to write tests in plain English and have them automatically executed. And the session is going to cover two key use cases enabling test teams to practice behavior-driven development without the need for underlining automation frameworks or restrictive Gherkin syntax and avoiding flaky tests by using AI-assisted targeting to locate elements on the page. And it's going to happen on July 25th. You can register now using the link down below and I hope to see you all there.

[00:03:38] Joe Colantonio All right, speaking of Gherkin and Cucumber, I actually have an article on a framework I think you should learn more about. If you're not using it already. This is by Enes, who talks about a recently published article on API testing with SpecFlow. And so this article takes a deep dive into using BDD with SpecFlow and particularly in the context of API testing. And despite initial skepticism, Enes found that Gherkin styles test with the given when then structure in natural language syntax really turned out to be an incredibly useful way, especially for testing APIs. In this article, he takes a deep dive into explaining the behavior-driven development with SpecFlow and how you actually utilize BDD into the process with emphasizing collaboration and communication and also outlines how to create a simple BDD SpecFlow, how the automation testing framework. He also demonstrates how to use SpecFlow's data-driven testing capabilities to handle test data and includes by encouraging others to explore Gherkin for API testing. Really great article. Definitely check it out and you can find that once again in the first comment down below.

[00:04:47] Joe Colantonio Who are the leaders in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for 2023 for Application Performance Monitoring and Observability? Well, I found one of them on LinkedIn, and this was posted by Larbi, how New Relic has been recognized as a leader for the 11th consecutive year. And this article goes over how the company contributes this recognition to its commitment to data accessibility, actual insights from different data sources, and cost-effectiveness. And also supports for OpenTelemetry, and it offers five key points that make a difference like the unified Full Stack Observability platform is able to automatically quarterly all Telemetry data sources to improve operational efficiency and provide actionable insights in context throughout the DevSecOps cycle has advanced security vulnerability management capabilities is the industry's first generative AI assistant and 650 turnkey connectors and also Openness of the platform. embracing OpenTelemetry integration with Prometheus, Grafana, Open-source agents, GraphQL, API, custom React visualizations, apps, and more.

[00:05:53] Joe Colantonio We spoke a lot about AI so far especially, the Generative AI and ChatGPT but how about for performance? Well, in a recent blog post, I found an article that covers this as well, this post by Monish, who explores the integration of K6, one of the top testing tools out there for load testing, and ChatGPT and AI language model to streamline performance testing processes. And this article really takes a step-by-step guide approach on setting up K6 generating automated K6 scripts using ChatGPT interpreting test results and how to export results in preferred formats. He also demonstrates how ChatGPT can be used to automate the generation of K6 scripts saving time and effort. And it also discusses the importance of understanding the interpreting test results to optimize application performance. And the Post concludes with a demonstration of how to export K6 results in different formats for effective analysis and reporting, and this really cool approach to performance testing offers a way to identify and address performance issues early on ensuring high-performance applications of which I think more people need to do for sure.

[00:07:01] Joe Colantonio And besides performance testing, I think another testing technique, more folks need to get into is Chaos Testing. And so I found a resource for that as well. This article goes over the concept of Chaos Testing, which is a methodology designed to improve system resilience. And the author explains how Chaos Testing, which involves injecting controlled failures into a system to identify potential weaknesses, differs from traditional testing methods and includes some of the benefits of this approach, like improving system performance and increasing end-user satisfaction, and enhancing architecture design. He also shares Allied Tech owned Chaos Testing Framework, which uses Cloud Resilience Hub, Chaos Engineering tools, and load testing tools. And the framework combines performance testing in chaos engineering to assess the impact of system failures on user experience. And the article concludes by emphasizing that Chaos Testing, just like performance testing, is not a one-time activity, but a continuous process vital for maintaining resilience and reliable systems.

[00:08:04] Joe Colantonio And believe it or not, Taylor Swift is back in performance news. She brought down another ticket sale operation for Ticketmaster, this time in France. What does it mean for performance engineers and testers? Let's find out. So Taylor Swift's latest tour ticket sales in France has been temporarily halted due to technical glitches in Ticketmaster. What happened is the issue prevented users or fans from logging into the website, which affected sales for Swift's concerts in Paris. And the suck-up kind of recalls the initial sale of Swift's tour in the U.S., which also experienced delays and cancellations. And so they obviously didn't really learn from that first experience they had in the U.S. It really underscores the importance of rigorous stress testing and capacity planning to ensure systems handle peak loads, especially during high-demand events. It also highlights the need for effective contingency planning and clear communication with users in the event of disruptions. And by learning from these real-world scenarios, developers and testers can better prepare their systems for future challenges and maintain a positive user experience even under the demanding conditions and also highlights as we talked about earlier. Performance Testing Resilience testing is not a one-and-done activity, it needs to be constantly done to make sure that the user is always getting the best experience.

[00:09:22] All right. For links to everything we covered in this News episode. Head over to the links in the first comment down below. And while you're there, make sure to check out our awesome 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, and my mission is to help you succeed in creating end-to-end full-stack pipeline automation awesomeness. As always, test everything and keep the good. Cheers.