Element 34

I’ve long been in the camp who say that ‘yes, you can test without knowing how to program, but you will be a better tester if you do’. Of course, I learned how to program when I was 15-ish so have never been able to test professionally without that knowledge. But yet there is still a vast part of the testing community that will admit to not knowing how to write code — even if it is to support their exploratory testing. To make a sweeping statement with no real evidence behind it, I think part of the reason is programming is seen as this overwhelming Java-like experience where you have to wrestle with tools like Eclipse all day.

Fortunately though, there is Python which is an excellent language to be in the tester toolbox. But there seems to be a lack of programming training aimed specifically at the needs of testers writing code to support testing.

Just Enough Python to be Dangerous is an idea that is bouncing around my head to exploit that niche. Two days of Python training that will show testers how to use code to help their testing. The idea is to not cover the entire Python landscape, just the parts that are [generally] useful in the testing context.

Day One – Language

• Data Types
• Loops
• Conditions
• Objects
• Exceptions
• Files

Day Two – In the Testing Context

• Files (CSV, XML)
• Databases
• Web Services (REST and WS*)
• Selenium

As the first day shows, it really is meant for people who have never programmed.

My idea is to run the first one the Thursday and Friday in the Bay Area (Pleasanton) after CAST (which is Monday – Wednesday in San Jose) this year. Space would be limited to 10 people (5 pairs; though if you don’t have a pair, you’ll get one the day of) and be priced ~ $1000 which is pretty cheap but for this first session I’ll be looking for lots of feedback.

I’ll even make certificates saying that you are ‘Dangerous with Python’.

If I get six people willing to hand over money for it I’ll look harder into reserving the space. Email contact@element34.ca for more details.