Simulators for QA Engineers. Where to Get Practice?
One of the most frequently asked questions of novice testers is why there is a lot of theory on the web but not enough practice. Where can self-taught QA engineers or those who don’t get enough practical tasks on thematic courses train their QA skills?
We will try to answer this question.
Online Simulators
A lot of junior testers do not even realize how many knowledge testing platforms of all kinds they can find on the expanses of the global network. The sphere of software testing appeared a long time ago, which means that there is a great variety of online resources where you can practice your skills.
Among the myriad of them, popular ones can be the following:
- Requirements Analysis Trainer – https://artsiomrusau.com/articles/tpost/xdih36ps01-trenazher-po-analizu-trebovanii;
- Sniffer Interaction Trainer – https://artsiomrusau.com/articles/tpost/d0sxr4k771-trenazher-dlya-raboti-so-snifferami;
- OWASP vulnerability search platform – OWASP Juice Shop | OWASP Foundation;
- A list of demo projects for practical test automation tasks – CodebaseShow;
- Web UI testing platform – Home Page (softwaretestingboard.com);
- Online platform for testing the most popular types of DOM elements – DEMOQA;
- Testing a desktop application using ListBoxer as an example – Testing a desktop application using ListBoxer as an example (artsiomrusau.com);
- SQL Trainer – SQLBolt – Learn SQL – Introduction to SQL.
Various Open-source Applications
More than half of the repositories on Git Hub are open-source, which means you can search them by keywords and do some exploratory testing. There are always defects out there. This technique is good for testing mobile apps. Type Android + the name of some simple product (calendar, alarm clock, weather widget) into the search engine in your browser. Build the project in Android Studio or Xcode, and then test it.
Or there is another way: write to the author of the repository, tell him in detail that you need the practice of live testing and you are ready to check his work for bugs for a recommendation on LinkedIn.
Real Applications
The most popular type of testing is exploratory testing. You can find any application on the Internet or AppStore, perform decomposition, make a checklist, and start searching for bugs when making a portfolio (in the future, it can become a big plus when speaking with QA recruitment, for example).
If you prefer the web sphere, you can start with well-known sites like Aliexpress. With a mobile phone, you can test social networks – Instagram/LinkedIn, and search for all possible applications at a low rate.
Freelance and Crowd-testing Platforms
Sometimes companies do not want to spend significant resources on a dedicated team of testers and turn for help to specialized platforms that have contacts of novice and skillful QA engineers who are ready to test a certain web resource for bugs for a relatively small amount of money.
As for freelancing, it is not common among testers, but there is a chance to find a good offer on some exchanges (Upwork, Weblancer).
Conclusion
In general, it is not difficult to find something worthwhile in terms of practice for QA. The main thing is to be motivated and constantly try something new. As a rule, people who only whine that there is no opportunity to practice self-study have not looked for anything.
