Test Automation Strategy for Oracle Forms application running in Citrix servers

 Context:

There are many product based applications developed using Oracle Forms and Java thick-client architecture, and most of them are accessible via Citrix (varies from Organization to Organization). Some products have stringent security access policies, and their product owners (Organizations) generally do not allow installing any test automation tools in their product's host server. They provide access to their products only through multi-channel Citrix layers. Example: Oracle Health EHR. These put a lot of limitation to the Test Architect/Principal Engineer/Test Manager, whose given task is to prepare test automation strategy for these types of product applications.

Strategy:

First step is to have a series of dialogues with the organization who owns the product to work out any possibility of getting the required test automation tools installed in the test server of the product. Due to complexity of multi channel Citrix layers, we may need to install some test automation agents at each layer. For example, UiPath remote runtime and OpenText UFT's Citrix Plugin. In case of Robot Framework, we need Python, PIP and all supported libraries to be installed on the Citrix server. Same applies to Test Complete tool.

Second step, if we are at this point, then definitely we did not get much support from the product's owner organization, so we need to rely on relatively unpopular test automation approach, which is Image Recognition. There are many trendy test automation tools that provide image recognition capability. Following are some important factors to consider:

1. Does the existing tools in my organization's inventory have image based testing capabilities?

2. Do we have any budget allocated to your project plan for procuring any new test automation tool? (i.e. Eggplant, a renowned tool for Image Based testing that comes with licensing. UiPath Computer Vision may look appealing, but it has license costs associated and you may need to override the default OCR library, in case the text search and extraction does not fit your need.)

3. Are there Open Source tools that can fit your existing Test Automation ecosystem? (For example: if your company's test automation ecosystem does not use Java or Python backed hybrid test automation frameworks, then you cannot easily integrate SikuliX or Open-CV).

Answer to this question will lead to:

a. How long does it take to build a test framework from scratch to use these open source libraries? 

b. Do we have the required skills within our existing talent pool?

c. Do we have any budget allocated to hire an expert (Contract / Permanent Role)?

d. How long will be the learning curve?

Third step, how are you going to build a repository of Ui Object's images? This is the most important question, since, many of the Oracle forms have common Ui Objects and if you follow kind of page object model (POM), then you will end up building a huge repository that will contain duplicate images. So, defining an image capture strategy is quintessential. Capture an Ui Object's image in such a way that the same could be reusable across the application. 

Fourth step, how are you going to identify the objects uniquely in the Ui? Sometimes, you may find, some Ui Object's are repetitive in the forms. Example, there could be two fields with label "First name", under two different sections on the same form. In these cases a conceptual strategy of an anchor comes into play. For example, we could use the section headers as unique anchors to define a reduced region (to the left, right, top or bottom from the anchor image) on the screen in which we should search for an image for uniqueness.

Final step, how we are going to sale our strategy to the project stakeholders? While creating the test automation strategy, always keep in mind, the amount of efforts invested on test automation should  reduce the manual test efforts gradually, once it is rolled out for usage. This ROI factor always determines the fate of test automation activities.

I hope this is helpful to you, please share your opinions in the comments section. Always refer to the official websites of the tools mentioned in this article.

Interview preparation series Java: Are you not getting interview and/or coding test invites?

Are you not getting interview and/or coding test invites? 

These days it is pretty common. So, first of all, I would advice, consider reviewing your CV/Resume. Kindly do not exaggerate listing your skills, by copying from others. The technical panels are smart to judge how much truth is in it. Focus on elaborating on your role, job duties and some of the key challenges that you may have faced in the projects that you have been a part of, your professional achievements and certifications. My advice to freshers is they should put focus on their academic projects, and challenges faced in executing them and the certifications.

Now, if you get an invite for interview/coding test with a very short notice, how much prepared do you think you are? 

If you are among a small set of lucky candidates who received the interview/coding test invites, you still are in a competition.Thus, you need smart preparation to compete fairly, which includes a lot of coding practice on a regular basis. Below are my recommendations for preparing well:

Java:

1. Thoroughly study and memorize the functions under java.lang.Math package. You may ask why? Because over past 10 years, most of the coding tests ask require you to solve either a mathematical or a numerical problem. So without having a solid command over Math package, you can't solve most of the problems.

2. Focus on Java 8 onward features and coding styles. These days Java 6 style coding is old-fashioned and the industry trends follow Functional programming, including asynchronous functions (lamda), bi-functions and its use in stream() operations. In some of the online coding tests, you will be asked to only write the missing part of the code in a method. If you are not familiar with the aforementioned concepts, then you may miss an opportunity to score, because sometimes the asks will be very simple, but by the time you realize it, the opportunity will turn into a lost opportunity.

3. Thoroughly study and memorize the functions under java.util.Stream package. You may ask why? Again, most coding tests moved to Java 8 and above syntax. So, the expectation is to solve problems using stream() operations. Practice using Array, Strings, charArray, collections, (i.e. List, Set) and map. The idea is to determine whether you are familiar with the java data-structure and collections framework or not, and if you can apply it whenever appropriate in a programming context. 

4. Bitwise operations, sometimes most neglected by the students and professionals, however Bitwise operations are very important to master if you are a Java developer or going to become one. Brush up the bitwise operations and practice the number conversions including Octal, Hexadecimal and Binary numbers, bitwise shift operations, XOR operations. This topic always finds its place either in the online coding test or in the interview process.

5. You might have learned about Data-Structures: Stack, Queue, Dequeue, LinkedList, Tree etc. Do you know when to use it to solve a programming problem? Have you tried using the built-in data-structures in Java in any of your academic or professional code? Being honest with yourself, if you feel you are not comfortable with applying Data-structures, then revisit the concepts, look out for programming practice problems and set out sometime everyday to do practice for at least an hour.

6. None of the programming is complete without its File operations, and Java is not an exception. So please read through java.io.File package, memorize the functions and its parameters, and understand when to use which technique to read and write to files. The interviewers are sometimes more interested in understanding how much you know about the file operation efficiencies.

7. Without DB connection, a standalone program does not deliver value. So, you need to master JDBC connection and Spring Boot alternatives. In the interviews, you may expect questions on DB operations with respect to microservices development. So, getting yourself familiar with MySQL, Postgre, MongoDB will help a lot.

8. Exception handling and debugging is an integral part of any programming language. So, you should be able to tackle questions around efficient ways of handling errors and exceptions, including raising custom exceptions.

Pocket guide on popular IT job roles - for students and professionals

1. For Developer and QA roles, while in college, take your studies seriously. Don't bunk your mathematics, automata theory, computer architecture, operating systems, Unix, Could computing, DBMS and data structure lectures. Learn and understand the core concepts and its applications. Even after finding employment, don't forget these subjects and do some revision every year to keep your core knowledge solid in these areas. Reason behind is, the market is competitive, you may be asked to sit in online exams for screening. If you don't prepare, you shouldn't curse a prospective employer.

2. If you don't like coding at all, during your college, you need to master these subject areas: Systems analysis and design, Software Engineering and Agile practices, Cloud Computing Project Management, DBMS, and Management Information systems. Additionally study Basics of Management, Organization Theory, Business Communications and People Management. You should focus on roles like Business Analyst, Scrum Master, Software Auditor, PMO, Project manager, Digital Creator. Additionally, if you have good mathematical (Linear Algebra, Calculus) and statistical background, then consider Business Analytics and Data Science. You need to master at least MS Excel and its statistical formulas to progress. If choose this track then you need to improve your coding skills. R programming is simple, whereas Python with its data-science packages will take much longer to learn.

3. If you like coding, then master at least two object oriented programming languages, say Java and Python, or C#.net and Python. Also, learn JavaScript and Groovy. The rational behind is, full-stack developer roles needs good programming skills. Practice, practice and practice writing code using different IDEs, example Eclipse, Intellij, Visual Studio Code, Atom etc. Always refer best coding practices, and do self review of your code against those standards. In your local developers machine, use SonarQube or similar tools to check your code. Don't skip writing unit tests and master test driven development. This process also demands learning git, maven, Gradle, Jenkins and Docker containers, knowledge on Jfrog Artifactory and similar tools that helps to mange binary versions among releases. And these days we can't think of doing development without including build and CI tools. If development is your passion then you must sweat a lot in writing the right code, unit testing it well with all possible scenarios, meeting timelines and quality checks. Solve programming puzzles available online in sites like Topcoder, Coderanch, Hackerrank

4. If you like testing, then don't just do selective reading of articles from the internet. You must read the lovely books which reflects the research and thoughts went into establishing testing and quality assurance as an important branch of software engineering. These initial books written on test automation still motivates a lot of QA professionals in finding better ways to organize and optimize their testing efforts and automation strategies. Your entire computer science study comes to life when you join as a QA professional to a project and experiences the e2e SDLC or Agile life-cyles. You need at least following skills to succeed, irrespective of what career level you are in:

• Analytical ability and problem solving
• Comprehension and proofreading
• Inspection and review
• Ability to quickly absorb functional domain knowledge
• Ability to identify and quantify risks
• Identifying and deriving test scenarios
• Constructive debate and negotiation skills (part of overall communication skills)
• Identifying test data requirements and finding/suggesting ways to acquire it in adequate quantities before test execution phase (in simple words should have good knowledge on TDM (Test data management process)
• Test infrastructure identification, setup and management
• Test driven development and automation first approach in agile
• Defect logging best practices and defect lifestyle management using tools like Jira, ALM
• Optimizing test design at per quality expectations and delivery time
• Optimizing test execution using techniques like prioritizing test based on risk, coverage, functionality, cross-cutting dependency etc. Leveraging automated test execution (parallel test execution preferred) through continuous integration platform
• Error and exception log analysis skills to narrow down to potential root cause. Example CI/CD logs (i.e. Jenkins), batch/shell job execution logs, DB logs etc.
• Good communication and presentation skills
• Self-management (i.e. self-organizing, stress management, time management etc.)

5. Identity Management, System Admin (including Cloud), DevSecOPS, Cyber Security: If you are a computer science student and are interested in these roles, you should focus on subjects like Digital Electronics, Computer Hardware and Networking, Unix Operating Systems, Cloud computing, Unix Administration, Windows Administration, Computer Security, Cyber Security, Ethical Hacking, Containerization and orchestration (including networking, ingress, administration), Virtual desktops administration and management (i.e. VMWare, Microsoft Remote Desktop Environment, Citrix etc.). But never undermine the mathematics lectures which equips you with important concepts of calculations. Besides, you must learn how to do Shell scripting in Unix, windows scripting in Powershell, Groovy or GoLang scripting.

If you are a professional in these areas, then stay relevant with latest technologies and skills. Do self-retrospective to identify areas you must focus on, put up a plan and stick to it until your goal is achieved.