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BeginnerFoundations

Manual Testing — Introduction to the QA World

A detailed starting course for future QA engineers. Learn why software testing exists and what testers contribute. Learn how teams work, design and do manual tests, report defects, use QA tools, and communicate risk.

Manual testingTest designDefect reportingExploratory testingTeam collaborationWeb testingQA tools
Learning outcomes

What you’ll be able to do.

01

Explain the purpose of testing and the responsibilities of a QA engineer

02

Work effectively with product, design, development, and delivery roles

03

Analyze requirements and design valuable manual test coverage

04

Execute functional, exploratory, regression, usability, and compatibility testing

05

Write reproducible defect reports and communicate release risk

06

Use common test management, browser, API, database, and collaboration tools

Curriculum

8 focused modules.

32 lessons total
01Why manual testing matters and what this course will teach youUnderstand why manual testing matters in QA work. Preview the knowledge, practical skills, and outcomes that you will build.
  1. ↳Who is a software tester?Lesson
  2. ↳Why software testing existsLesson
  3. ↳Quality, defects, and riskLesson
  4. ↳Testing principles and the QA mindsetLesson
02How software teams deliver productsLearn the lifecycle, team roles, and collaboration points surrounding testing.
  1. ↳The software development lifecycleLesson
  2. ↳Product, design, and business rolesLesson
  3. ↳Engineering, operations, and delivery rolesLesson
  4. ↳Agile events and the Three AmigosLesson
03From requirements to a test approachTurn product information into coverage that addresses meaningful risk.
  1. ↳Reading and questioning requirementsLesson
  2. ↳Test basis and test oraclesLesson
  3. ↳Risk-based test planningLesson
  4. ↳Traceability and meaningful coverageLesson
04Designing powerful manual testsUse systematic techniques to select revealing examples without attempting every input.
  1. ↳Equivalence partitioningLesson
  2. ↳Boundary value analysisLesson
  3. ↳Decision tables and combinationsLesson
  4. ↳State transitions and user journeysLesson
05Executing and exploring the productCombine prepared checks with skilled observation and adaptive investigation.
  1. ↳Test cases, checklists, and exploratory chartersLesson
  2. ↳Exploratory testingLesson
  3. ↳Functional, smoke, sanity, and regression testingLesson
  4. ↳Usability, accessibility, compatibility, and resilienceLesson
06Defects and evidenceRecognize, investigate, report, and collaborate on product problems.
  1. ↳Recognizing and investigating failuresLesson
  2. ↳Writing a great bug reportLesson
  3. ↳Severity, priority, and business impactLesson
  4. ↳Defect lifecycle, triage, and verificationLesson
07Tools of the manual testerUse common tools to observe systems, organize evidence, and collaborate.
  1. ↳Issue trackers and test management toolsLesson
  2. ↳Browser developer toolsLesson
  3. ↳API, database, and log toolsLesson
  4. ↳Communication, documentation, and evidence toolsLesson
08Working like a QA engineerBring the process together through environments, release decisions, and a realistic assignment.
  1. ↳Environments, builds, and configurationLesson
  2. ↳Test data, accounts, and privacyLesson
  3. ↳Release testing and quality reportingLesson
  4. ↳Capstone: test a new checkout featureLesson
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