Resources for test automation

Question

I'm trying to learn more about test automation as it relates to the QA process and there just doesn't seem to be a lot of resources out there. For example, if I do a search for TestComplete (a tool I'm now evaluating), the first few pages of Google results are all links from the company's website instead of external websites referencing the tool or providing tutorials/tips/tricks, etc. If I search for QTP even the company's own website for the tool appears elusive and there just isn't much online for it.

Another thing I'm looking into is customized automation tools, ones that can I build myself in .NET. Again, there's not a lot out there - hardly any books or websites.

Is the demand for test automation that low? I would think with all the software in the world that test automation would be something that would be highly sought after or would at least be rapidly growing.

EDIT: Sorry for the delay, but basically I'm looking for two things:

1) External websites (those outside the company's website) that discuss or provide tutorials on various tools, like things you would find with standard development tools, or even books that cover these tools. 2) Creating your own automated tools vs using existing tools - why go one route vs another? Regarding the SQAForum website, it seems like all discussions focus on existing tools, but what about people discussing the creation of their own testing tools?

I was searching for the Microsoft Automation UI framework specifically and only came up with a couple examples. The book ".NET Test Recipes" is a bit old and there are some newer frameworks out there that wouldn't be covered.

It seems like most of the big companies that use SDETs rely on their own tools they create instead of out of the box tools, but discussion on creating these tools, tutorials, etc are more limited.

Answer 1

There's a huge amount of material out there - what search terms have you been using ? A quick search through testing blogs will soon find arguments about whether testers should know coding or not as there is so much demand for SDETs ( Sofware Developers in Test ) and plenty of discussion about Automation v Automagic ( TM Jim Hazen )

Sadly, if you search on the tool names then yeh, you're going to find the marketing bumf from the tool vendors

What exactly are you looking for - info on tools or info on the approach you should take for automation ? What are you trying to automate - desktop apps, browser based apps, mobile, SAP ?

For .NET there are a couple of books out there eg .NET Test Automation Recipes

EDIT

Now you've provided more info

Might be worth reading this article about automation and frameworks by Adam Goucher

Answer 2

Almost any major framework or tool is customizable, meaning that:

• you can code your own verifications and pass/fail logic
• you can run external tools
• you can customize logs and push/pull of test results in some way

Rational Functional tester uses Java language, Selenium WebDriver uses C# (if you wish to use .NET), and Sikuli uses Python (but it isn't mature enough).

Where I work, software testing has recently grown in importance, but simply our managers can't fully understand how it works (unit tests, integration tests, functional tests...) and what can be automated and what can not. Also automated testing is often misunterstood and interpreted as testing done by the machine so having immediate results.

This is mainly my experience, I hope it answers a part of your question.