A Story of One Young Mentee (Remote) Learning E2E Test Automation

About one month ago, my best friend J (in Sydney) contacted me about her nephew, who had just come to Australia to study for an IT Master's degree. During the conversation, I suggested learning a bit of End-to-End Test Automation, which could help improve his academic score in Uni Assignments.

J was interested and arranged a Zoom session with Aaron, her nephew. I did a “30-minute Test Automation Coaching for $1” (available for anyone, once. Of course, for my best friend, no need to pay $1).

When I was about to show writing the first Selenium test, Aaron said, “Uncle Zhimin, do you mind that I record the session. So I can re-watch”. I replied, “Sure”.

After the session, I recommend the following:

• read my ebook “Practical Web Test Automation with Selenium WebDriver”
• do the exercises on the “Selenium Training Workbook”

Frankly, I had low expectations as so many people (with fancy job titles) contacted me, but did not follow my advice: doing hands-on E2E testing exercises. (See my article, Doer vs. Talker in End-to-End Test Automation).

Last night (2023–08–29), J called me, “Aaron finished all 21 exercises, what do you suggest to do next?”

I felt embarrassed. This workshop consists of 51 exercises that I created slides and taught two people (verified). After exercise #19, I left the task of converting slides to articles for my daughter. She did #20 & #21, and then the writing of her new press book interrupted this. It was my fault to think few people would pay $50/year and be persistent enough to complete those 21 exercises.

Anyway, back to my embarrassment. After saying sorry, I promised to publish more exercises tomorrow and suggested the following tasks:

• Learn Git, starting with my 10-Minute Guide to Git Version Control for Testers.
• Read the “Practical Continuous Testing” ebook.

Then I asked Aaron, “What do you think of those exercises (21 guided E2E testing)?”

Aaron answered, “Very logical”.

I regard it as a quite positive remark for the “Selenium Training Workbook”. I designed those exercises for beginners.

Then I told Aaron, “By the way, I think you are now better than 90% of automated testers”. (see AgileWay Continuous Testing Grading)

J and Aaron were surprised and did not believe it. I continue, “Of course, Aaron’s E2E test automation skills are still quite limited, but it is about relative. Too many fakers there”. (see A Tale of a Deceptive End-to-End Test Automation Engineer)

By the way, Aaron has been using TestWise IDE free mode all this time. So, no “can’t afford testing tool” excuses. The most important factor: Are you truly passionate about learning E2E Test Automation?

After the conversation, I gave Aaron a complimentary TestWise license (valued at $360). While he could continue to use TestWise free mode, with his growing levels, he will feel better managing a large test suite without minor interruption (free mode needs to relaunch after 15 test executions).

My afterthoughts:

Did Aaron count as my mentee? Probably is. Compared to some mentees who work with me on the same project, he is more like self-learning. However, he is making good progress rather quickly via slow and steady hands-on exercises, on a nightly basis.

Aaron did not question my advice. Just Do It. As a comparison, I often received the following discussion-tone messages:

• “I think JavaScript, when used right, can be good ….”
• “Ruby is not as popular as JavaScript…”
• ...

Frankly, this behaviour makes no sense. If one reader agrees with me, follow my advice. E2E test automation is super practical, and objective results present themselves. Whether my approach works or not, they will know after a few days/weeks of trying it out (raw Selenium, RSpec, TestWise, BuildWise), as the young Aaron did. There is no vendor-locking or cost with my approach to learning. If in doubt, why bother contacting me?

Some even want to debate me, e.g., trying to convince me that another approach is better. I am quite open-minded, have written test automation books in five languages, and my tools support various frameworks besides Selenium+RSpec, such as Playwright, Cucumber, Mocha and Pytest. But they often forget the fact that I have been maintaining several large E2E (via UI) test suites (enable daily production releases) for over a decade, in my spare time.

• ClinicWise, 600+ Selenium RSpec
• TestWise, 332 Appium + RSpec
• WhenWise, 570 Selenium RSpec (Showcase)
• and a few more smaller suites

To convince me, it will take more than just words. My approach

Develop/Debug raw Selenium/Appium + RSpec in TestWise IDE, and run them in BuildWise CT Server daily.

has repeatedly shown 10X to 100X productivity than any E2E test automation toolset (I am talking about real E2E Test Automation via UI for a period of time, not just demos). Not only that, compared to all others, it is far easier (also nearly free) to learn, like in the case of Aaron.

If some individuals have faith in my coaching approach, I guide them just as I did with Aaron (and my daughter). If not, I recommend seeking your ideal mentor.

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Related booking

• My ebook: Practical Web Test Automation with Selenium WebDriver
• Selenium Training Workbook, a series of guided E2E web testing exercises.