Zhimin Zhan
Bio
Test automation & CT coach, author, speaker and award-winning software developer.
A top writer on Test Automation, with 150+ articles featured in leading software testing newsletters.
Stories (99)
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Developers, you shouldn't do Cypress Component Testing either. Part 2: Reasons to Avoid
Continue from Part 1, in which I shared my experience and opinions on View Unit Testing. The fact: few software engineers do View Unit Testing over the last three decades. There are, of course, very good reasons.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
Developers, you shouldn't do Cypress Component Testing either. Part 1: View Unit Testing Proven little value
This is a sequel to the other article, "QA Engineers, Stay Out of Cypress Component Testing, for Your Own Sake!" I can work as a software engineer or test automation engineer. One ability that I am quite proud of is that I can put the right hat on when working on different aspects of software development work.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
There is no “100% coverage” in Automated E2E Software Testing
It is well accepted that 100% test coverage (functional, not unit testing) from manual testing is not possible. However, some had unrealistic expectations of 100% coverage in E2E Test Automation. This is very wrong, this article will explain why.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
Fake Code Review with ‘LGTM’
This article is one of the “Be aware of Fake Test Automation/DevOps Engineers” series. Some fake Agile software companies focus on ‘sound good’ but poorly conducted practices, Code Review is one of them. The objective of Code Review is to verify a programmer’s check-in to make sure it follows coding standards and more importantly, will not break stuff.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
A Story of a Senior IT Manager Fears Real Agile, But Talks Highly About It
In 2020, I worked at a large financial institution. My agent told me that this IT division's director was an excellent IT leader who loved Agile, test automation, DevOps, CI/CD, and wanted to change the industry.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
Estimating Test Automation Story Points is a Total Waste of Time
Many fake “agile project managers/agile coaches” are fixated on Velocity Charts. The so-called “velocity” is based on the rate of completing the story points estimated by the team. As a result, “story estimation sessions” are a part of “Agile Ceremonies” in some projects, along with“stand-up meetings”, “retrospectives”, and “sprint planning”. (see the end of the article for Kent Beck’s, the father of Agile, view on these ‘agile ceremonies’)
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
A Practical Advice on Rejecting Estimating Story Points for Test Automation
Many years ago, I worked in a small start-up company on its client project. B, A co-founder (without coding/testing background), was particularly fixated on story points. His actions led me to believe that he thought he had cracked the secret code of software development, which was "Velocity based on User Story Points", as the project went very well.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
Comparing the Cost of End-to-End Test Execution in CT Servers: Cypress Cloud and BuildWise
One user’s feedback on my article “Comments on the claims of ‘7 ways Cypress is different’. All False, Wrong or Lie”: “Cypress Cloud is good”. Oh well, I haven’t used it. For failed Cypress test automation attempts I rescued, they were in a complete mess, previously planned Continuous Testing never occurred. On rescue missions, I usually got some converted (from Cypress to the great raw Selenium WebDriver + RSpec) running in the BuildWise CT server on Day 1, then every day onwards.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
A Story: “Promised E2E Test Automation Training”
During my time working on contract at a major financial firm, a new QA Director was assigned to the position. He held a meeting for all testers (about 50, I think), as you know, the usual introduction and layout of future plans, …, etc. Towards the end of the meeting, he asked: “Any particular thing you like to see happening, please let me …”.
By Zhimin Zhan2 years ago in 01
