People often ask me, what are the best books I can recommend to read for software testers and test automation engineers.
Usually, I say that the best way to become a good QA and Test Automation engineer is not reading a book, but instead practicing and doing it. That’s why all my test automation courses are hands-on, with minimum theory.
However, it never hurts to add some theory, if it can benefit you. In this post, I will not bore you with “Top 10” books for software testers. I will recommend just two books: one on Software Testing, and another on Test Automation. Just two that will be enough to become a good Software QA and Test Automation Engineer.
Testing Computer Software, 2nd Edition
Book by Cem Kaner, Jack Falk, Hung Q. Nguyen
This book will teach you how to test computer software under real-world conditions. The authors have all been test managers and software development managers at well-known Silicon Valley software companies. Successful consumer software companies have learned how to produce high-quality products under tight time and budget constraints. The book explains the testing side of that success.
Software Test Automation
By Mark Fewster and Dorothy Graham
In this book, you’ll learn various techniques for automating test execution, scripting techniques, architecture, metrics, and the implementation of various tools. On top of it, you’ll also get to learn various key points from the valuable case studies. This book is pure gold for all the test automation engineers out there!
Test Automation tools, programming languages change. But the techniques and principles stay the same. This was a great book in 2000, when it was published, in 2010, when I first read it, and it’s still relevant today
Nowadays, you can find lots of books on software testing. It’s easy to google “top 10 software testing books”. However, most of the time, it’s going to be the same list with the same books. And those books will contain basically the same information. That’s why I think in our field of work, it’s better to do more than reading.
The above two books will give you a great base. And to improve it, there is nothing better than practice.