Issue #170 : Software Testing Notes
#nothingcalledmanualtesting
Hello there! 👋
Welcome to the 170th edition of Software Testing Notes, a weekly newsletter featuring must-read content on Software Testing. I hope this week has been good for you so far.
This week, we will explore:
Vibe testing with Playwright
JMeter Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server
The Hidden Costs of Flaky Tests
Functional Page Model (FPM) instead of POM
Understanding How to Fix Accessibility Issues for Good
and much more….
📚 Testing
“Manual Testing” Is Still Not a Thing: But We Keep Pretending It Is by Brijesh DEB
I have been following Brijesh for al long time and he has always been a stench advocate for #nothingcalledmanualtesting. As Brijesh explains in this article, “It’s a misleading term that reduces thoughtful, risk-based work to button-clicking”. Read this article to find out what testing truly is and why we need to stop using terminology that actively undermines it.
Why Code Coverage Matters For a Quality Culture (Part 1) by Melissa Eaden
In this thoughtful article, the Melissa Eaden responds to Federico Toledo’s question on how test managers demonstrate coverage. The article argues that testing metrics should be used to spark conversations about risk, not just to track numbers.
Also take a look at the second part discussing Perception & Visibility of quality metrics.
🔍 Software Testing
⚙️ Automation
Vibe testing with Playwright by Tim Deschryver
If you've been curious about what AI-assisted end-to-end testing might look like in practice, Tim Deschryver shares how the integration of GitHub Copilot's agent mode and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can can generate meaningful, high-quality tests simply by prompting the agent.
Modern Web Automation With Python and Selenium by Martin Breuss
This is a masterclass hands-on project if you are looking to learn selenium with python. Martin Breuss walks you through building a project using Python and Selenium, while teaching practical skills like locating DOM elements, handling dynamic content with waits, and organizing code using the Page Object Model (POM) for maintainability.
The Hidden Costs of Flaky Tests: A Deep Dive into Test Reliability by Guilherme Oliveira
Guilherme Oliveira takes a deep dive into flaky tests and makes a strong case for prioritizing test stability just as highly as features or bug fixes to reduce and manage flaky tests.
The Async Nature of Cypress: Don't Mess with the Timelines in Your Cypress Tests 'Dual-Verse' by Sebastian Clavijo Suero
By walking through with few examples (along with some excellent diagrams), Sebastian Clavijo Suero explains how to avoid timing pitfalls with Cypress commands (queued and asynchronous) to run on a different timeline from regular JavaScript to address flakiness of the tests.
Functional Page Model for Playwright: A Scalable Alternative to Classic POM by James K.
The traditional Page Object Model works, but it often becomes a burden as test suites grow. James K. introduces the Functional Page Model (FPM), a Playwright testing pattern that splits actions, locators, data, and specs into separate files for cleaner, more maintainable code.
Getting Started with Robot Framework and Python: Your First Step into Automation! by Ajeet Verma
If you're looking to step into automation without diving headfirst into code, Robot Framework is worth your attention. Ajeet Verma has written a nice starting guide that would get you started with Robot Framework in no time.
🔍 Test Automation
💨 Performance
Run JMeter Tests Directly from Your AI Assistant: Introducing the JMeter MCP Server by NaveenKumar Namachivayam
There is a growing trend of using Model Context Protocol (MCP) to interact with AI assistants and field is testing is also catching up. NaveenKumar Namachivayam introduces the JMeter MCP Server that lets you run tests, open the GUI, and capture results directly from IDEs or chat interfaces like Claude or Cursor.
If you are visual learner, watch this video about how to use JMeter Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server.
🔍 Performance Testing
🌞 Accessibility
Automated accessibility test tools find even less than expected by Robert Dodd
In last issue, we had talked about manual and automated accessibility testing. This week, Robert Dodd ran the automated accessibility test with five commercial tools on test pages and got shocking results. The analysis revealed that even this well-defined and testable aspect of accessibility isn’t reliably detected.
Audits Are Not Enough: Understanding How to Fix Accessibility Issues for Good by Nir Horesh
Nir Horesh argues for a shift-left approach for accessibility testing. By treating accessibility as a continuous process instead of a checklist item, teams can build more inclusive products and reduce costs.
🔍 Accessibility Testing
🛠️ Resources & Tools
AI-Powered UI Test Automation Agent — a Java-based agent that leverages Generative AI models and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to execute automated test cases at the graphical user interface (GUI) level. More here
JMeter MCP Server — This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows executing JMeter tests through MCP-compatible clients.
📝 List of Software Testers
Do you create content around Software Testing ? Submit yours blog details here and I will add it to the list.
🎁 Bonus Content
📌 OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
⭐ LAST WEEK'S MOST READ
Understanding MCP’s Potential -How MCP Is Transforming the Future of Software Testing by Sanjeev Kumar
You don’t need so many E2E tests (Or do you?) by Callum Akehurst-Ryan
How Dropbox leverages testing to maintain high level of trust at scale by Ryan Harter
😂 And Finally,
Devs watching QA test the product 🤣
📨 Send Me Your Articles, Tutorials, Tools!
Wrote something? Send links via Direct Message on Twitter @thetestingkit (details here). If you have any suggestions for improvement or corrections, feel free to reply to this email.
Thanks to everyone for subscribing and reading!
Happy Testing!
Pritesh(@priteshusdadiya)