Breaking the Code: Game Test Automation, IoT, and QA Interview Improvements TGNS90

[00:00:00] Joe Colantonio Have you ever wanted to learn how to create test automation for video games? Do you want to know how to do Iot performance load testing? And what are some ways the software industry can improve the traditional tech interview process? Find out in this episode of the Test Guild News Show for the week of July 30th. So grab your favorite cup of coffee or tea and let's do this.

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[00:00:40] Joe Colantonio So SmartBear has just launched its 4th major product of the year, The SwaggerHub Portal and this cool platform is designed to empower API providers by centralizing API documentation, showcasing their brand with a fully customizable landing page, and driving API adoption with an easy-to-use interface. And this goes into more detail how SwaggerHub Portal is not just about centralized API documentation, it's also about giving APIs the spotlight they deserve. So it's kind of like a one-stop shop for developers to access all the latest API information alongside visually appealing and up-to-date documentation as well.

[00:01:20] I also found an article that points out the importance of why you should be focusing on ERP SAP enterprise software testing if you're not already. So this article comes your way via Michal, who posted how SAP integration issues during a recent launch of a major retailer caused a significant setback due to botched implementation of their SAP enterprise software. And so this actually resulted in a loss of, I think in U.S. dollars. It's like 46 million. And this mishap has led to a double-digit decline in profits for SPAR. And the company is now prioritizing the resolution of these SAP software implementation issues with the help of SAP specialists. And how could this have been avoided? Well, how about doing some testing and not sure where to start? Well, Michal actually also post a valuable resource for you as well. And the crossing links to covers how to use into 4 suites, increase the testing coverage and reduce the effort for both manual testing, which takes the most time in every SAP project, and end-to-end type testing. You'll also learn how to do a bunch of different things like parameterize, messages between specific environments, and you'll discover how to facilitate SAP utility service virtualization for manual testing, citizen testing, performance testing, end-to-end testing, and integration with UI testing tools like WorkSoft, UIPath, and Tricentis.

[00:02:44] Joe Colantonio I don't know about you, but it's been a while since I went on a job interview, but when I did, I was kind of surprised how much they've changed when I started in the industry to become a little bit more almost developer focused, but just ask you like really technical questions, but not really trying to see if you fit into the organization. I was really happy to see this latest article by the one and only Alan Page. If you don't know, Alan is a longtime software testing expert. He's created multiple books, he has multiple podcasts. He created tons of resources. He speaks all over the place and he's also a seasoned interviewer. And he, in this article, criticizes the traditional tech interview process. And he argues that the ability to regurgitate an algorithm under pressure is less important than a candidate's ability to collaborate and problem-solve. Alan suggests that instead of asking candidates to write code on the spot, interviewers should engage them in a discussion about the challenges of writing the code. This approach allows interviewers to understand how the candidate approaches the problem. He also recommends peer programming during interviews to create a more collaborative and less stressful environment. Alan also warns against solely relying on behavioral questions as some candidates may be adept, are given impressive answers without having an SRE skills or positive work attitudes. He emphasized the need for balancing in the interview process focus and not just on coding skills, but also on teamwork and cultural fit. And he concludes the article by arguing the tech industry needs to improve its hiring practices to ensure fairness and effectiveness. And he suggests that the goal of interviews should be to gather enough information to make a hiring decision and to ensure that the candidate, whether hired or not, feels that the interview was a worthwhile use of their time. Really great resource. You definitely should check out. I used to work for a large company and they changed the interview process to be just more technical and they'd hire people that knew how to answer just standard Java questions. But when they joined the team, they didn't know how to do any sort of testing, and so it was just a bad fit all around. I think the more people take Alan's advice, they'd be a lot better off and they would save a lot of money in the long run in their interview process and onboarding process as well. And definitely check that out in the first comment down below.

[00:04:58] As I was researching this week's news articles. I came across something that mentioned how Stack Overflow has lost over 56% of its traffic due to Bard in ChatGPT. And because of this, they're now fighting back. I came across this on LinkedIn by Amit, who talked about a new release by Stack Overflow called Overflow AI. So as I'm sure you all know, Stack Overflow is probably the most popular community-based platform for developers and testers and is disrupting its traditional model with the introduction of Overflow AI, a series of generative AI initiatives. And this initiative aims to enhance both the public Stack Overflow site and its enterprise offering. So Stack Overflow for teams with AI-powered search capabilities, a visual code exception, and a Slack Integration. Overflow AI is designed to help developers and testers in enterprises find and use the information they need more efficiently. It works by allowing users to ask conversational questions, and the A.I. generates answers from the 58 million questions and answers on its public Stack Overflow site. They also go on to mention how the goal of overflow AI is not to replace the community but to complement it. And it enables natural language processing based on queries that yield highly accurate generated results. And the new A.I. capabilities are set to launch as Alpha releases in August.

[00:06:23] Are you a software tester or an automation engineer that looking to level up your skills? Well, I have a brand new course I think you're definitely going to enjoy. And I just released today this new course on TestGuild.com Video Game Test Automation Getting Started Course with Shane Evans, the creator of GameDriverio. And this isn't just a course, it's really an entry point into the exciting and evolving world of game test automation. I'm often asked, Joe, how do I test video games? While this comprehensive course addresses that. And goes above and beyond and offers much more. So Shane kicks off the course by introducing you to the concepts of game automation testing and also helps to demystify complex ideas. He then dives into the core of game automation. Guided by game drivers, hierarchy, path query language model, where you'll master the syntax, understand its structure and gain practical experience for hands-on examples and find out the wonders of game automation. And you also learn how to test real-world applications that are either 2D, 3D, or XR-based. So if you really want to up your automation skills and want to get into game development and game testing, this is the course for you. I highly recommend you check it out and you can find it in that first link down below. And think of Shane for creating this free resource for the software testing community.

[00:07:42] Do you want to learn how to do more Iot performance testing using Locus, which I think is really cool too? Well, I have a great resource for you as well. And this was posted by Joan on an article he wrote for Hacker Noon that goes over the intricacies of Iot performance load testing using Locus and Azure. And the article discusses the limitation of Azure container instances for continuous delivery pipeline testing, including scalability issues and the difficulty of managing container lifecycles. And to overcome these challenges, the authors suggest using Kubernetes on Azure Kubernetes services, which allows for the creation of multiple node pools with dedicated resources. The article also highlights the use of Helm, a tool for developing packaging and installing capabilities resources to simplify the setup and teardown of tests. Joan also provides a GitHub example and explains how to use helm to run locus on Kubernetes.

[00:08:39] And more AI In development news. I found this on LinkedIn. Sophie's post on Dynatrace is the latest. Dynatrace has announced the expansion of its Davis API, with the addition of Davis CoPilot making it the first hyper model A.I. platform in the industry. So this platform combines Predictive AI, Causal AI, and Generative AI to enhance productivity across operations, security, development, and business teams. And Davis CoPilot empowers users to create queries, data dashboards, and data notebooks using natural language. It also provides coding suggestions for workflow automation, reflecting the unique attributes of each customer's hybrid and multi-cloud ecosystems. So Davis A.I. transforms your augmented data to enable more useful analysis, perform automatic tasks, and respond to users' requests.

[00:09:33] 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.