Fundamental Issues in Tooling and Automation

One common theme in our consulting is the team that has never done test automation before yet is certain they have it figured out. We’ve also hosted hundreds of podcast interviews, and during that time have come to believe that test automation is often a faith-based concept. In 1 year, or 2 or 5, the consultant comes back and the group we advised has learned some of the same lessons recommended on that first on-site visit but could not do. Or, in some cases, they’ve failed.

As it turns out, there are foundational ideas in test tooling that usually can only be learned by experience. Without some resources to accelerate the learning process, your organization is likely to make the same mistakes, possibly over and over again. In the worst case, you could be like that customer, building something on a rickety foundation, only to have it fall back into the sand.

So, we suggest you don’t do that. Instead, learn from...