I'm new to a QA role and would like to follow best practices and help improve existing tooling at the company I work for. Where should I go to learn about the state of the art? In previous roles as a full time developer I would spend a lot of time using sites like Pluralsight or Confreaks.tv to learn information about my trade. It seems quality is a different animal. Any tips?
2 Answers
I'm also new to SQA and Testing. So far I've found that I might have a leg-up if I was previously in a dev role (I haven't) but the best sources of info for me have been:
http://softwaretestingfundamentals.com/ - Useful to learn some of the language used in the Software Testing world. From here I've been following the breadcrumbs (Google searching) some of the terms and reading up on methodologies.
http://www.istqb.org/downloads/syllabi/foundation-level-syllabus.html Getting acquainted with the ISTQB syllabus for becoming a Certified Tester at the fundamental level. Follow the breadcrumbs some more, or if you're so inclined, go for the cert.
Podcasts - There are dozens of podcasts on the topic, some great, some a bit too full-on (for me) but they all have something in common besides the topic - they all leave me asking more questions (where as previously I didn't know what questions to ask)
YouTube.com - One of the podcasts mentioned the WhiteboardTesting channel on YouTube. I've watched a couple of this guys videos now, so far seems a good source of info
O'Reilly.com - eBooks that are DRM free, and they often have very good sales (half price, buy one get one free etc). PLENTY of books here, and you can use the Kindle, Kindle App or almost any other e-reader to read through the books.
I'm sure there are loads of other resources, but this is what I've found in the last few weeks.
Good luck!
The best websites I have found are Ministry of Testing, Techwell, and StickyMinds. For security, visit www.owasp.org.
Blogs to follow include Michael Bolton and James Bach. These fellows teach context-based testing which allows a team to take the best of any other testing style/school/methodology and apply it. If it works, keep it. If it doesn't, try something else.
Books to find are written by any of James Bach, Michael Bolton, Cem Kaner, Jerry Weinberg, or any books these folks recommend. The most useful book I have found is "Lessons Learned in Software Testing".
While on the Techwell site, look for one of their testing conferences in your area.
Perform a search for testing clubs and organizations in your area. They usually meet monthly and most often will host a speaker to present on a particular topic of interest.
