Learning Web, iOS, Android, or Backend Test Automation?

With so many opportunities available, it can be a hard to choose between areas of expertise in software testing! It’s a tricky decision and you can’t be 100% sure until you try. In this article Engeniou.io outlines some differences between learning web, iOS, Android and backend test automation. Consider your own preferences, the level of difficulty, opportunities, and salaries.

Milestones to Reach Expertise in Test Automation

Anyone looking to enter into the mobile testing automation field must have a certain skill set to advance in their career, such as: 

To choose between the areas of expertise in software testing first of all make your choice of the tools:  environment and programming language, which suits you best. The thing is that any long-term advantages, such as higher levels of salary, the popularity of the particular domain dim in comparison to day-to-day work. Imagine how hard would be to find motivation for every business day in case the final result is expected to appear in 6 months at least. More important to receive everyday joy from what you’ve done.

It is imperative to know about the levels you have to cross to become an expert in each domain. So, let’s go over them in more detail. 

iOS Test Automation Engineer Learning Milestones

The first thing you need for iOS test development is to get a grip on the Swift programming language. Swift is the best programming language to help you with iOS development and test automation. Gaining proficiency in it can help you in reaping the benefits the iOS market offers. 

However, there are particular skills you need to develop to get hired as an iOS Test Automation Engineer including: 

• – Understanding of development lifecycles, testing methodologies, and QA processes
• – Study Swift, Java programming language
• – Understanding of Apple’s Xcode IDE
• – Fundamentals of iOS app development
• – Be proficient in XCTest and XCUITest testing libraries

With the right courses from Apple, you can become a master of many more skills along with the ones mentioned above. And mastering tools like Test Orchestrator and SIFT will increase your efficiency as a specialist.

Android Test Automation Engineer Learning Path

If you aim to reach a milestone in Android software testing, you need to be skillful in Kotlin programming language. There are official courses from Google that will support you in understanding the basics of testing.

In addition to learning to code you’ll need:

• – Study frameworks like Espresso, Jetpack Compose, UI Automator, Robolectric, and test libraries associated with them 
• – Get acquainted with CI/CD Continuous integration and continuous delivery operating principles
• – Experience in manual testing would be helpful due to an understanding of the testing principles implemented.

What Should I Learn to Become a Web Test Automation Engineer

Web testing is also often combined with all windows applications testing. To start an automation software tester career in Web you will have to study the following: 

• – One of OO languages – C#/C++, Java, Python, or web-based technologies
• – Understanding of SDLC, STLC, and knowledge of Test Automation processes
• – Get acquainted with at least one automation environment like Selenium IDE, Jet brains rider, Visual studio, or TestNG, Webdriver, Cypress
• – Learn test library, associated with the corresponding environment
• – Knowledge in tools like ALM, JIRA, Jenkins

Back-end Test Automation Engineer Learning Milestones

Back-end testing implies a process of checking that proceed the server-side or database of web applications or software. The purpose of backend testing is to test the application layer or database layer to ensure that the web application or software is free from database defects like deadlock, data corruption, or data loss.

Backend testing is also known as Database Testing. The data entered in the front end will be stored in the back-end database. The database may be SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, DB2, etc. The data will be organized in the tables as records and it is used to support the content of the page.

Database or backend testing is important because if it is not done properly, it may cause some serious complications that may cause significant losses to business. Good example may be the banking system, where data quality plays a crucial role.

In order to do the back-end testing, you are expected to have a strong background in the database servers and knowledge of structured query language.

Level of Difficulty in Test Automation Domains

This is a process of looking for perfection in your work, no matter the areas of expertise in software testing you choose.  If you are a perfectionist, you’ll succeed in Testing. There is not much space for experiments. It is imperative to understand the level of difficulty for each domain.

iOS and Android

The main focus of the industry is mobile development. Apple and Google had created(or better – “provide”)full packages for the development and testing of the software. So it will be relatively easier to enter automation software testing on mobile.

Web Test Automation

We can roughly say that Web testing is easier compared to the backend, but it may vary depending on the complexity of the project. For mobile software testing, there are unified instructions for the official frameworks (Apple, Google). While for Web testing there are many more different frameworks from which to choose and study.

Test Automation Engineer salary tendencies

Test Automation is undoubtedly a lucrative industry, and everyone wants to get a piece of the pie. 

According to the Dice report, the average salary range for QA grew by 4.9% in 2021 vs the previous year, which is lower than in Development. For Test Automation Engineer, meanwhile, figures are closer to the Development level, which grew by 8% during the same period.

It’s quite hard to find separate vacancies for each domain. Due to a lack of specialists, employers offer this position to developers or manual testers and help them to learn new functions. Salaries of Test automation specialists can correlate with developers’ salaries in the same domain to some extent. 

Back-end test automation engineers traditionally have higher salaries on average, around $113K per year. Also, iOS specialists tend to earn more. General Test automation engineers’ salaries can vary from $50K to $200K per annum, depending on your experience, skills and project size.

Opportunities and Perspectives in Each Domain

All the areas of expertise in software testing are different in terms of perspectives. As a Test Automation Engineer you don’t work much with startups. Normally such specialists are needed in the companies with well-documented processes, more stable ones. You work with the finalized product.

Each of these domains offers numerous opportunities and opens new avenues for people. Individuals can pursue any of them as per their preferences and skills. 

iOS Test Automation Engineer Perspectives

Ever since Apple’s App Store came into existence, it has resulted in more than 1,500,000 jobs for developers, QA testers, etc and the opportunities are continuously increasing. Therefore, we can further expect the iOS market to expand, opening new doors for iOS developers and testers. 

Opportunities in Android Test Automation

There is no doubt in the fact that Android is the biggest OS in the world which opens up numerous avenues for individuals. The overall trajectory of the growth in Android for software developers, QA analysts, and testers looks promising. As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for this decade is around 22% which is faster than the average. 

Web Test Automation Perspectives

Rapid digitalization and the pandemic make it necessary for a business to have a website and moreover – integrated solutions. Only Saas technologies are projected to grow by 18.8% by 2030. Therefore, web development and testing services are likely going to see a boom higher than all other domains with much more new avenues opening up. 

Future of Backend Test Automation Engineering

The growth projections are not something different for backend testers if we compare them to other domains. The BLS predicts a massive employment change from 2020 to 2030, with more than 409,500 jobs coming into the industry.

Wrapping up

The experience of our employees proves that there is no 100% correct roadmap on how to choose a field in testing. You should be fast in entering the labor market. Languages and frameworks you’ve studied can be outdated fast. As an example, a programmer teaches Java to develop software for Android and learns UI testing in this language, but after a conditional six months, the industry moves to Kotlin, where different language syntax, other pros & cons, and the labor market already favors programmers with Kotlin knowledge. 

In the end, the main principles of testing are quite the same in all areas of expertise in software testing. If you try one of them, learning a new one will be easier afterward.

The simplicity and effectiveness of tests are held to depend on the level of code transparency and architecture scalability of the program tested. We’ll touch on the topic of scalability in our next blog post next week, don’t miss it in our blog. 

If you’ve already chosen your domain, get prepared for the interview with the help of Igor Dorovskikh during our nearest webinar: How to pass an interview for Test Automation Engineer? Get your dream job and make a $200K+ annual

Test batter, Test faster, Test Smarter!