7 Awesome Test Automation University Courses Not To Miss

Advanced Topics, Getting Started — Published December 6, 2022

Almost everyone in software testing knows about Test Automation University (TAU). Powered by Applitools, TAU is one of the best resources for building up your testing and automation skills. It offers dozens of courses from the world’s leading instructors all available for free. It’s awesome!

Last month, I wrote an article listing the 10 most popular TAU courses ranked by completions over the past year. However, there are several other excellent courses in our catalog that also deserve attention. In this article, I want to highlight a small selection of those courses that I think are fantastic. These courses are listed in no particular order, and of course, all our other courses are excellent as well. Let’s dive in!

#1: Playwright with JavaScript

Playwright with Javascript course badge
Ixchel Meza

First on this list is Playwright with JavaScript by Ixchel Meza. Playwright is a hot, new web testing framework from Microsoft. It’s a modern framework with automatic waiting, built-in tracing, and cross-browser support. Plus, it’s fast – really, really fast for UI testing! It’s quickly gaining industry traction. In this course, Ixchel teaches you how to get a Playwright project up and running in JavaScript. The distinction of saying “in JavaScript” is important because Playwright also supports Java, C#, and Python.

#2: Intro to Testing Machine Learning Models

Intro to Testing Machine Learning Models course badge
Carlos Kidman

Next up is one of my personal favorites: Intro to Testing Machine Learning Models by Carlos Kidman. Machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), “algorithms” – whatever you call it – is indispensable to software products today. Just like every business plan in 1999 needed a website, every new app these days seems to have an ML component. But how do we test ML models when they seem so opaque and, at times, questionable? In this course, Carlos breaks down where testers fit in this brave new world of ML and all the techniques for properly testing models.

#3: UI Automation with WebdriverIO v7

UI Automation with WebdriverIO v7 course badge
Julia Pottinger

UI Automation with WebdriverIO v7 by Julia Pottinger is actually a special course: it’s the first course that we “refreshed” for TAU. Julia’s original course covered a now-older version of WebdriverIO, so she developed a new edition to keep up with the project. WebdriverIO is a Node.js-based browser automation tool that can use either the WebDriver Protocol or the Chrome DevTools protocol. Alongside Selenium WebDriver, Cypress, and Playwright, it’s one of the most popular web testing tools available! Julia covers all the ins and outs of WebDriverIO v7 in this course.

#4: The Basics of Visual Testing

Basics of Visual Testing course badge
Matt Jasaitis

Visual testing is indispensable for testing any app with a user interface (UI) these days – which is basically every app. In The Basics of Visual Testing, Matt Jasaitis teaches how to incorporate visual testing techniques as part of a well-balanced test automation strategy. You’ll build a Selenium Java project together with Applitools Eyes chapter by chapter, learning the best practices for visual testing along the way. Visual testing will help you catch all sorts of bugs like overlapping text, missing elements, and skewed layouts that traditional automation struggles to find.

#5: Introduction to Observability for Test Automation

Introduction to Observability for Test Automation course badge
Abby Bangser

“Observability” means the ability to understand what is happening in a software system based on telemetry being reported in real time. Just like any other software system, test automation and build pipelines have telemetry worth analyzing for improvements. In her course Introduction to Observability for Test Automation, Abby Bangser teaches how to expose metrics, logs, traces, and events of an automated test suite written in Java running through GitHub Actions. She provides excellent guidance on what is worth capturing and how to capture it.

#6: Introduction to Blockchain Testing

Introduction to Blockchain Testing course badge
Rafaela Azevedo

A blockchain is a distributed ledger that links records or “blocks” together in sequence using cryptographic signatures. One of the most popular blockchain applications is cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockchains also serve as a cornerstone for web3 and web5. Although blockchain technologies are controversial due to environmental concerns from high energy consumption and due to perceived scams around cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), they are nevertheless ingrained in our tech landscape. In Introduction to Blockchain Testing, Rafaela Azevedo shows you how to get your hands dirty with blockchains by setting up an Ethereum blockchain on your local machine, writing your first contract with Solidity, and finally testing your contract.

#7: Testing from the Inside: Unit Testing Edition

Unit Testing course badge
Tariq King

The final course to round off this list is Testing from the Inside: Unit Testing Edition by Tariq King. Unit testing is such a vital part of software development. It’s one of the first lines of defense in catching bugs in code. In this course, Tariq takes a unique approach to unit testing: thinking “inside the box” of the software product under test to explore the actual code and its data. Tariq covers foundational principles as well as practical techniques like parameterizing, mocking, and spying.

What other courses are available?

Like I said before, Test Automation University offers dozens of courses from the world’s best instructors, and we add new courses all the time! These are just seven out of many excellent courses. Be sure to peruse our catalog and try some courses that interest you!

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