SDETs is the upcoming Future of Testing.

Microsoft invented one job role called as: “Software Design Engineer in Test” alternatively called as Software Developer Engineer in Test. Nowadays, these type of roles are very much in demand. Infect, Organizations and big MNC like Amazon, Apple etc. have also started using these type of job roles in there resource management.

Now, the question arises why are these type of roles getting in demand so quickly. This is because many a time while developing the application a person gets in-depth knowledge about the domain and the subject. So, While performing the testing by the same person if he is aware of all the testing practices along with the development he is more likely to save the project management time and covering the breakpoints.

SDET’s have been here for long time. However, their role has evolved impressively during the years. As the Test automation industry will have a huge demand, more and more testers will be taking up the role of the SDETs to be successful.

An SDET will review the software’s design, performance, code for automation as well. Often, it is seen that those Testers who have worked for preparing the framework for some projects are refered to be promoted to SDET’s to review the frameworks of other projects etc. But, there are some differences between a Tester and the SDETs. Following are some:

• A Tester is supposed to implement the Testcases either Manually or via Automation.

         Whereas, an SDET is supposed to have knowledge of both Development as well as Testing practies in depth. He/She will             be responsible for Developing the software as well run the Test cases either manually or through Automation, that depends.

• Testers are usually limited in programming skills, they do Black-Box Testing or Functional Testing or sometimes executing the Automation Script.

         Whereas, SDET have strong programming skills. Who will perform White-Box Testing or sometimes these type of                       resources are utilized as the developer in Test Automation.

• Software Testers may be required sometimes for using the Software Automation Tools made by SDETs to automate the Test cases used for Testing.

          Whereas, SDET’s as mentioned above are responsible for preparing the Test Automation Tools for the generic us by the                Testing Team. This is as per the demand of the organization, this may not happen always, as there are already a lot of                    Automation Tools in the market for Open-source use or paid versions. But sometimes due to some security concerns, they            are supposed to make a dedicated product for the company for its own use.

        Example:  If a task is there to test API of the Application.

        There involves the requirement to write some line of code at least, so here the task will be given to SDET’s and not                      Software Testers as the Software Tester is supposed to do the Testing of the Functionality, Usability, Graphical User                      Interface etc.

• Software Testers cannot do unit level testing or unit testing.

         SDET is an Engineer He knows many database concepts, programming languages, data designs and product design are               there where he participates. He will be able to perform unit testing because he has the necessary code lnguage knowledge.

SDET Profile – Full-stack Testers

What does the profile of a great SDET look like? What skills should SDETs have?

Now, some of us have heard of full-stack developers, but can we have full-stack testers?

In my opinion, an SDET should have at least the following skills and attributes:

• Has a tester mindset, is curious and can come up with interesting test scenarios
• Has a solid understanding of testing principles and methodologies
• Knows that all testing is exploratory in nature and appreciates the difference between testing and checking.
• Can apply appropriate test methods for a given scenario
• knows the difference between testing and QA
• Can code in at least one scripting or programming language (Java and Javascript happen to be the most popular)
• Understands HTTP and how modern web applications are built
• Can write UI as well as API automated tests. One or the other is not good enough!
• Knows Git, Pull Requests, Branching, etc…
• Is agile in nature and knows how testing fits in the agile model
• Can write performance test scripts (Gatling and/or JMeter)
• Thinks about security and is aware of OWASP
• Understands CI/CD and Build pipelines
• Knows the services offered by cloud platform providers such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud
  

  Becoming a great SDET

  As can be seen, the range of skills expected of an SDET is quite broad. My advice to testers who want to become SDETs and remain relevant in the new age of QA is: Ensure you work towards having all of the above skills in the SDET profile.