TOP 5 Information Sources for Testers

2020 challenged the way we think about various industry sectors. The software testing industry is as active and in demand as ever. How do you keep track with current developments? And how do you get neutral information about what’s happening in the software testing world? In this article we want to point out the five most important and informative knowledge sources you can find when it comes to software testing in 2021.

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1. Ministry of Testing
   In 2007 the Ministry of Testing started out as a Software Testing Club. In 2021 this online community of testers came a long way from their humble beginnings as a discussion-platform and forum and is now the biggest testing community. Today they also host conferences, workshops, masterclasses, ask me anythings and much more. There’s even a resource platform exclusively dedicated to software testing called The Dojo. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or an expert in testing, there is no way around the Ministry of Testing if you want to stay up to date with current trends and conferences in the scene.
2. TestGuild
   The Test Guild is strongly linked to its founder and software testing legend Joe Colantonio. Joe has formed the testing community like few others. Especially when it comes to topics such as automation, performance testing and security testing, there’s no way around Joe and his platform Test Guild. They frequently host conferences with the world’s top experts and there’s a highly acknowledged podcast — one of the longest-running testing podcasts out there. Over 335 episodes have been published only on test automation and there are many more episodes on security testing and performance testing. Experts, founders and test-engineers from all around the world and very different approaches got a chance to speak with Joe about testing. The Test Guild is the place to be if you want to stay informed.
3. GitHub (Awesome!)
   GitHub is a code hosting platform for version control and collaboration. But it’s actually far more than just that. GitHub offers a variety of informative summarizing pages, the so called “GitHub Awesome” pages that collect all the information such as tutorials, weblinks, code examples et cetera on a certain topic. For example if you are looking for a complete overview of “Unit Testing” just navigate to your preferred search engine and search for “GitHub Awesome Unit Testing”. You will find a complete list of helpful information, no unnecessary long introductions, just raw facts and knowledge. Here’s an awesome collection offering you a great overview of some awesome pages, a GitHub Awesome awesome if you like.
4. YouTube (Conferences)
   There are different types of learners, some just want text-based instructions, others consider themselves auditory learners who prefer podcasts and audiobooks. The vast majority of people prefer visual information such as images and videos, which is where YouTube comes in handy. Looking at the view counts of YouTube tutorials for software testing videos, this information is obviously not new to you. What makes YouTube extremely popular is a development that took place over the last few years, the year 2020 in particular. With the corona pandemic transforming most conferences into online conferences, many organizations decided to put their conference talks or entire conferences on YouTube — for free. I can’t stress enough how much of a blessing this is to the software testing community. People from all over the world and very different working contexts share their experience, tips and tricks and it’s not just for free but available on demand for you to watch at any time. Keep an eye on which conferences are taking place soon and if you liked a talk by someone follow the speaker on social media to be informed about new conferences the speaker and like-minded people attend.
5. MeetUp
   The only downside you may name that on-demand videos have is the lack of discussion. If you are looking for an in-depth discussion or someone to challenge your methods and the way to think about a problem you need active live and (remote) in-person discussions. MeetUp Groups are a great way to do so. With the pandemic bringing most of these groups to a halt, MeetUp groups started trending. People from Europe suddenly discovered the value of attending software testing groups from Asia or the Americas and vice-versa. In 2021 you are no longer restricted to a certain location to find people to actively discuss what’s on your mind. Just type in the topic you’re interested in and attend a meeting — no matter where the community is based.