Podcast Summary: A Practical Deep
Dive into Software Testing &
Automation
Title: Developer vs. Tester? Future of Testing in 2025? | Practical Automation Demos | Ft.
Sumit Goyal
Host: Ajay (Front-end Developer)
Guest: Sumit Goyal (Senior QA Automation Engineer, 8 YOE)
Core Theme: Demystifying the role of a software tester, showcasing the power and future of
automation testing through live demos, and providing a roadmap for aspiring testers.
1. Sumit's Journey into Testing
Background: From Gwalior, did B.Tech in IT. Initially planned for GATE/M.Tech but
followed his sister's advice to gain work experience first.
First Job: Joined a startup in Noida, worked for free initially, and learned Java.
Career Start: Got a job at Infogain (2018) through Naukri.com. Was part of the .NET batch
but was guided by his manager to shift from manual to automation testing for better career
prospects.
Career Progression:
Infogain (3 yrs): Started with manual testing (6-7 months), then transitioned to automation.
CTC grew from 3 LPA to ~5-6 LPA. Stayed due to a great learning environment and
supportive team.
Iris Software (3 yrs): Worked during COVID, advanced his skills in Selenium.
Current Role (2 yrs): Senior QA Automation role at a company in Noida. Is clear about
continuing in automation.
2. The Developer-Tester Dynamic
Myth Busted: The saying "developers and testers can never be friends" is false. A
collaborative relationship is crucial.
Healthy Collaboration: Their goal is shared: to build a high-quality product. Discussions
focus on understanding requirements and fixing issues, not blame.
Real-World Scenario: Testers often need to request developers to add unique identifiers
(IDs, class names) to elements to make them automatable.
The "Friday 5 PM Bug": A humorous look at the tension when a high-priority bug is logged
just before the weekend. Both agree it's part of the job.
Tester's Value-Add: A good tester thinks from the end-user's perspective and provides
feedback during grooming sessions on UI/UX improvements, not just finding bugs.
3. Manual vs. Automation Testing: The Car Analogy
Manual Testing: Like driving a manual transmission car. It requires constant effort
(changing gears) and is tedious in heavy traffic (large regression packs).
Automation Testing: Like an automatic transmission car. The tool (sensor) handles the
repetitive tasks (changing gears), making the journey smoother.
The Future - Self-Driving Car: Represents the pinnacle of automation, where scripts can run
entirely independently (e.g., triggered by CI/CD pipelines like Jenkins).
4. Live Automation Demos (The Core Value)
Sumit presented four practical demos using Selenium with Java and TestNG:
Demo 1: Basic Login Functionality
What: Automated entering username/password, clicking login, and validating a success
message.
Key Takeaway: Showed how an assertion instantly fails the test if the actual message
doesn't match the expected one (e.g., a missing comma), catching developer oversights.
Demo 2: Calendar Date Picker
What: Script to select a future date (December 3, 2040) by automatically clicking the "Next"
button until the correct year/month is found.
Key Takeaway: Automates a extremely tedious manual task in seconds, showcasing
efficiency and speed.
Demo 3: Content Validation on a Website
Scenario: Testing if all the text on a webpage (e.g., Ajay's bio) matches the expected content
from a requirement doc.
Manual Pain Point: A human would have to read line-by-line, which is error-prone and slow
for large sites.
Automation Solution: The script fetched all text and compared it to the expected string in
milliseconds, instantly highlighting any missing or incorrect text (e.g., a missing letter in the
word "passion").
Demo 4: End-to-End E-commerce Purchase
What: A full workflow: logging in, browsing products, adding to cart, and entering payment
details.
Key Takeaway: Demonstrated how complex user journeys can be automated for regression
testing.
Live Jenkins & Reporting Demo
CI/CD Integration: Showed how automated tests are integrated into Jenkins. A non-
technical client can simply click a "Build" button to run the entire test suite.
Reporting: showcased advanced reports (Extent Reports, TestNG reports) generated
automatically. These reports provide:
- Pass/Fail status with pie charts.
- Screenshots of failed steps.
- Detailed error logs.
- Timing metrics.
- Downloadable CSV summaries for stakeholders.
Cross-Browser Testing: Used TestNG to run tests in parallel across multiple browsers
(Chrome, Firefox) simultaneously.
5. The Future of Testing & Skills Required (2025 and Beyond)
Automation is the Future: The demand is stronger than ever. AI tools like ChatGPT are aids,
not replacements, for skilled automation engineers.
Skillset Evolution: Knowing only Selenium is no longer enough. Companies now look for a
multi-tool, multi-language skillset.
Core: Selenium with Java (evergreen, best community support).
In-Demand: Playwright (particularly with TypeScript) due to superior features like auto-
waiting, built-in trace viewer, and excellent reporting.
Frameworks: TestNG (for parallel execution, data providers, and managing test suites).
API Testing: Knowledge of tools for API automation.
Performance Testing: Basic knowledge of tools like JMeter.
Advice for Aspiring Testers:
- Master the Fundamentals: Deeply learn your chosen programming language (Java,
JavaScript/TS). Don't just complete tutorial courses superficially.
- Embrace "Control C + Control V": This is a metaphor for being an efficient problem-solver
—knowing how to effectively search (Google, Stack Overflow), reuse code, and leverage
tools like ChatGPT (with good prompts) to build solutions faster.
6. Bonus Insights & Tips
Naukri.com Profile Optimization:
- Use relevant keywords in your profile (e.g., "Playwright," "Selenium Java").
- Update your resume daily before 10 AM to improve its indexing and visibility in recruiter
searches.
- Avoid setting your notice period to "90 days" on your profile; it discourages calls. Discuss
it later.
A Challenging Bug: Sumit shared an example where his automation script (using
Playwright's trace viewer) uncovered a security flaw: the network logs were capturing and
displaying sensitive credit card details, which was then fixed by the developers.
Conclusion & Final Message
The podcast effectively dismantles the misconception that testing is a lesser or boring
career. Through engaging demos and insightful discussion, it paints a picture of modern
testing as a technical, challenging, and highly impactful field that requires coding skills,
strategic thinking, and a user-centric mindset.
The key message is that automation testing is a powerful, future-proof career path. For
manual testers, upskilling to automation is critical. For newcomers, building a strong
foundation in programming and learning a multi-stack approach is the key to success. The
collaboration between developers and testers is essential for building superior software
products.
