Walkthroughs, verdicts, and field notes from working QA engineers. https://qa.codes/blog en-GB Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qa.codes/blog/scripted-vs-exploratory-testing https://qa.codes/blog/scripted-vs-exploratory-testing Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Not a loyalty test — a scheduling one. Scripted proves the behaviour you already know to check; exploratory finds what nobody specified. Here's which to reach for, when, and how to blend them in one cycle. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/manual-vs-automated-testing-where-the-line-falls https://qa.codes/blog/manual-vs-automated-testing-where-the-line-falls Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Not rivals fighting over the same budget — different jobs. Automation guards what you already know; manual testing judges what you don't. Draw the line wrong and you get a brittle suite and the important bugs still escaping. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/regression-vs-retesting https://qa.codes/blog/regression-vs-retesting Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Retesting confirms a fix works; regression checks the fix didn't break anything else. Plan them as one task and the 'we fixed it' build ships a brand-new bug. Here's the split, and how they combine after a fix. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/smoke-vs-sanity-testing https://qa.codes/blog/smoke-vs-sanity-testing Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Smoke asks 'is this build worth testing?'; sanity asks 'did this change work?' Both are quick gut-checks at different moments. Use them as gates before the real testing — and stop wasting a full pass on a dead build. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/risk-based-vs-coverage-based-test-selection https://qa.codes/blog/risk-based-vs-coverage-based-test-selection Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Coverage-based testing tries to touch everything a little; risk-based testing concentrates on what matters a lot. Under a deadline — the normal condition — the default you pick decides whether the bug you miss is the costly one or the trivial one. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/black-box-vs-white-box-vs-grey-box https://qa.codes/blog/black-box-vs-white-box-vs-grey-box Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The three 'box' terms are interview trivia until you use them right: they describe how much of the code you can see when designing a test, which decides what you'll catch. Most functional QA is quietly grey-box — here's why. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/centralized-vs-embedded-qa https://qa.codes/blog/centralized-vs-embedded-qa Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Should testers sit in one QA team or inside product squads? An org-design choice, not a tooling one — it shapes when QA gets involved, how consistent the bar is, and whether testers grow as a craft. The trade is proximity vs consistency. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/bdd-scenarios-vs-plain-test-cases https://qa.codes/blog/bdd-scenarios-vs-plain-test-cases Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Given/When/Then isn't automatically better than a plain test case — it buys shared language with non-testers at the cost of ceremony. Whether that pays off depends on who actually reads and co-writes your tests. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/test-pyramid-vs-testing-trophy https://qa.codes/blog/test-pyramid-vs-testing-trophy Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The pyramid says most tests should be unit tests; the trophy says integration deserves the bulk. They're really arguing about where bugs hide in modern apps. Let the shape follow your real escapes, not whose diagram you saw first. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/write-test-cases-developers-read https://qa.codes/blog/write-test-cases-developers-read Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Test cases that get read are short, scannable, and written for the person who has to act on them. Here is the format I use. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/12-api-bugs-i-check-first https://qa.codes/blog/12-api-bugs-i-check-first Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A high-value checklist: the twelve API bugs that surface most often, from wrong status codes to idempotency failures. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-smoke-test-before-release https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-smoke-test-before-release Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A ten-minute accessibility pass any QA can run before release — keyboard, focus, contrast, and the obvious screen-reader checks. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/auth-bugs-qa-can-catch https://qa.codes/blog/auth-bugs-qa-can-catch Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The auth and session bugs that show up in normal functional testing — no exploit tooling required. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/why-mobile-bugs-escape-web-first-teams https://qa.codes/blog/why-mobile-bugs-escape-web-first-teams Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Web-first teams carry assumptions that quietly break on mobile — permissions, offline state, lifecycle, and updates. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/p95-latency-explained-for-qa https://qa.codes/blog/p95-latency-explained-for-qa Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT What p95 actually means, why averages hide the bugs, and how to read a latency distribution as a tester. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/release-sign-off-checklist https://qa.codes/blog/release-sign-off-checklist Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A sign-off checklist short enough that people actually use it — and specific enough to catch the things that block releases. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/qa-portfolio-projects-that-dont-look-fake https://qa.codes/blog/qa-portfolio-projects-that-dont-look-fake Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT What separates a portfolio project that gets you an interview from one that screams tutorial-follower. Career https://qa.codes/blog/evaluate-ai-chatbot-before-release https://qa.codes/blog/evaluate-ai-chatbot-before-release Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A practical evaluation pass for AI chat features: hallucinations, refusals, prompt injection, and the cases with no single right answer. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/testing-when-requirements-unclear https://qa.codes/blog/testing-when-requirements-unclear Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A field-tested approach for testing a story when the acceptance criteria are vague, missing, or contradictory. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/api-pagination-filtering-sorting-bugs https://qa.codes/blog/api-pagination-filtering-sorting-bugs Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The specific bugs that hide in paginated, filtered, and sorted endpoints — off-by-one pages, unstable sorts, and filter leaks. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/keyboard-testing-accessibility-check https://qa.codes/blog/keyboard-testing-accessibility-check Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Tab through the page. That single habit catches more accessibility bugs than most automated scans. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/password-reset-bugs-i-test-for https://qa.codes/blog/password-reset-bugs-i-test-for Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Password reset is a deceptively risky flow — token reuse, expiry, enumeration, and session handling all hide here. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/mobile-smoke-test-before-release https://qa.codes/blog/mobile-smoke-test-before-release Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A short, device-real smoke pass: permissions, offline, rotation, interruptions, and the update path. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/why-average-response-time-lies https://qa.codes/blog/why-average-response-time-lies Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The average response time is the metric most likely to make a slow system look fine. Here is what to watch instead. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/risk-based-testing-when-everything-urgent https://qa.codes/blog/risk-based-testing-when-everything-urgent Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to prioritise testing when the timeline just got cut in half and everything is labelled critical. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/review-ai-written-playwright-tests https://qa.codes/blog/review-ai-written-playwright-tests Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT AI writes plausible Playwright tests that pass for the wrong reasons. Here is the review checklist that catches them. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/prepare-for-qa-take-home-assignment https://qa.codes/blog/prepare-for-qa-take-home-assignment Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT What take-home reviewers actually score, and how to spend your limited time on the parts that count. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/daylight-saving-time-bug https://qa.codes/blog/daylight-saving-time-bug Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A case study: a scheduling bug that stayed invisible until the clocks changed — and the test scenarios that would have caught it. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/regression-testing-without-wasting-two-days https://qa.codes/blog/regression-testing-without-wasting-two-days Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to scope a regression pass to the change in front of you instead of re-running the entire suite by hand. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/idor-explained-for-qa https://qa.codes/blog/idor-explained-for-qa Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The most common serious web vulnerability is also the easiest for QA to catch: the app serves a record by ID without checking it is yours. Two accounts and a changed number find it. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/authorization-testing-roles-permissions https://qa.codes/blog/authorization-testing-roles-permissions Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Authentication asks who you are; authorization asks if you are allowed. Most access-control bugs live in the second question — tested with a written access matrix and a lot of negative testing. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/session-expiry-testing https://qa.codes/blog/session-expiry-testing Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A session that lives too long is a hole, one that survives logout defeats the point. Here is the session-expiry pass — idle, absolute, logout, reset, remember-me, and fixation. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/api-status-codes-testers-care-about https://qa.codes/blog/api-status-codes-testers-care-about Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Skip the full registry — learn the dozen status codes that carry real meaning, what each promises, and how to spot when the code and the body disagree. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/testing-api-before-ui-ready https://qa.codes/blog/testing-api-before-ui-ready Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The API ships weeks before the screen. Test it directly from the contract — the whole bad-input, auth, and edge class is open at the API and invisible once the UI hides it. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/push-notification-testing https://qa.codes/blog/push-notification-testing Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Notifications behave differently foregrounded, backgrounded, and killed — and deep-link to the wrong place when they arrive. The killed-app cold start is where it breaks. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/offline-mode-bugs https://qa.codes/blog/offline-mode-bugs Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The interesting offline bugs are in the transitions, not the offline state: double-submits on reconnect, in-flight requests that die, optimistic UI that never rolls back. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/report-bugs-developers-can-fix https://qa.codes/blog/report-bugs-developers-can-fix Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A bug report exists to get the bug fixed. Specific title, minimal repro steps, explicit expected-vs-actual, evidence, and environment — the format that prevents "can't reproduce". Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/screen-reader-testing-basics https://qa.codes/blog/screen-reader-testing-basics Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Catch the blatant screen-reader failures in fifteen minutes with the reader already on your machine — meaningful names, sensible images, labelled fields, announced changes. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/testing-forms-accessibility https://qa.codes/blog/testing-forms-accessibility Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Forms break accessibility hardest — labels, required state, announced errors, focus management, and keyboard-operable custom widgets. The form-specific pass. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/load-vs-performance-testing https://qa.codes/blog/load-vs-performance-testing Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Load testing is one type of performance test, not the whole thing. A single user can have a performance bug. Match the test (load/stress/spike/soak) to the risk. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/test-strategy-people-use https://qa.codes/blog/test-strategy-people-use Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A test strategy is a short set of project-specific decisions, not a generic thirty-page document. Scope, risk, levels, automation split, data, ownership, and what "done" means. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/should-qa-learn-coding https://qa.codes/blog/should-qa-learn-coding Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Not yes or no — which coding and for what. Reading code and light scripting help every tester; automation is where the roles are. Coding extends testing, doesn't replace the judgement. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/prompt-injection-testing-for-qa https://qa.codes/blog/prompt-injection-testing-for-qa Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT LLMs can't reliably separate instructions from data, so user input can hijack the model. Direct and indirect injection, what to check for, and how to report it QA-safe. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/what-to-log-testing-ai https://qa.codes/blog/what-to-log-testing-ai Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A screenshot isn't a repro when outputs vary. Capture the full assembled prompt, retrieved context, model version, and parameters so an AI bug is actually reproducible. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/checkout-bug-passed-happy-path https://qa.codes/blog/checkout-bug-passed-happy-path Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Every checkout test was green, but combining two discounts and a gift card drove the total negative — and issued credit. A case study in testing invariants, not just features. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/api-pagination-bug-looked-like-frontend https://qa.codes/blog/api-pagination-bug-looked-like-frontend Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Items vanished and duplicated on scroll; the frontend took the blame for two sprints. The cause was an unstable API sort over a non-unique key. Follow the symptom down the stack. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/missing-negative-test-incident https://qa.codes/blog/missing-negative-test-incident Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A negative quantity on a "remove stock" action inflated inventory and caused overselling. The feature worked; the absent negative test did not. Test the negative space at the endpoint. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-issue-nobody-noticed-with-mouse https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-issue-nobody-noticed-with-mouse Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A custom dropdown worked for everyone who tested it — because everyone used a mouse. Keyboard users hit a dead end on a required field. The cheapest check would have caught it. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/mobile-wifi-only-bug https://qa.codes/blog/mobile-wifi-only-bug Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT On office Wi-Fi the payment flow was flawless; on cellular it double-charged. A client timeout shorter than real latency plus no idempotency, hidden by never testing a slow network. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/one-hour-exploratory-test-session-template https://qa.codes/blog/one-hour-exploratory-test-session-template Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A charter-driven, time-boxed template for exploratory testing: 5 minutes to charter, 35 to test, 10 to debrief — and notes someone can read. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/focus-order-accessibility-bugs https://qa.codes/blog/focus-order-accessibility-bugs Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Focus order is the route a keyboard user takes through your page. When it's wrong the page looks perfect and becomes unusable — and scans don't catch it. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/owasp-top-10-for-testers https://qa.codes/blog/owasp-top-10-for-testers Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The OWASP Top 10 translated for QA: what each category means for flows you already test, and the one check you can run without being a pentester. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/mfa-testing-checklist-for-qa https://qa.codes/blog/mfa-testing-checklist-for-qa Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The full multi-factor auth test surface: bypass, wrong/expired/reused codes, brute-force lockout, recovery, and the usability cases most teams skip. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/mobile-permissions-testing https://qa.codes/blog/mobile-permissions-testing Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Permission bugs live in deny, revoke, and 'ask every time' — not the grant happy path. The per-permission, per-platform matrix that catches them. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/testing-app-updates-without-breaking-users https://qa.codes/blog/testing-app-updates-without-breaking-users Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT QA fresh-installs; real users upgrade in place over old data. Test the upgrade path — schema migrations, stored settings, sessions, multi-version jumps. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/performance-smoke-test-before-release https://qa.codes/blog/performance-smoke-test-before-release Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Not a full load test — a fast, fixed, repeatable check on a few critical endpoints, compared to baseline, that catches gross regressions before sign-off. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/release-readiness-is-not-just-passed-tests https://qa.codes/blog/release-readiness-is-not-just-passed-tests Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A green suite confirms only what you thought to check. Readiness adds coverage-vs-change, accepted risk, observability, and non-functional signals. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/hallucination-test-cases-for-ai-features https://qa.codes/blog/hallucination-test-cases-for-ai-features Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Concrete test cases for AI hallucination — unanswerable questions, false premises, invented entities, citations — and how to judge answers with no 'correct' value. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/permission-bug-that-delayed-a-release https://qa.codes/blog/permission-bug-that-delayed-a-release Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A green suite, a flawless demo, and a permission check enforced in the UI but not the API — exposing every customer's data. Caught the day before release. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/one-flaky-test-blocked-trust-in-the-suite https://qa.codes/blog/one-flaky-test-blocked-trust-in-the-suite Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A single intermittent test trained a team to re-run, then ignore, then merge through every red build — until two real regressions slipped through. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/what-i-learned-from-a-failed-regression-cycle https://qa.codes/blog/what-i-learned-from-a-failed-regression-cycle Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Two days of regression, signed off green, and a regression shipped in the most-used feature. The tests weren't wrong — they were testing a stale picture. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/reduced-release-testing-two-days-to-four-hours https://qa.codes/blog/reduced-release-testing-two-days-to-four-hours Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Cut a dreaded two-day regression to an afternoon — and caught more — by weighting on risk, automating the stable core, and pruning dead cases. Case studies https://qa.codes/blog/story-ready-for-qa-checklist https://qa.codes/blog/story-ready-for-qa-checklist Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A 30-second readiness check before accepting a ticket into QA — testable criteria, defined edge cases, reachable build, known data — that replaces a day of back-and-forth. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/test-cases-vs-scenarios-vs-charters https://qa.codes/blog/test-cases-vs-scenarios-vs-charters Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Three different tools on a spectrum from prescribed to open: when to write a scripted case, a coverage scenario, or an exploratory charter. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/qa-notes-i-keep-during-sprint-testing https://qa.codes/blog/qa-notes-i-keep-during-sprint-testing Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT The working log that isn't a bug report or a test case — coverage, open questions, un-reproducible anomalies, painful setup — that makes a tester faster and more credible. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/api-test-data-problem https://qa.codes/blog/api-test-data-problem Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT API suites fail on shared, stale, order-dependent data more than on wrong assertions. The own-your-data strategy — independent, unique, cleaned — that keeps them reliable. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/testing-rate-limits https://qa.codes/blog/testing-rate-limits Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Test the full rate-limit contract — enforcement, 429, Retry-After headers, recovery, scope — with a low configurable limit and a dedicated key, not by flooding shared staging. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/reviewing-openapi-swagger-as-qa https://qa.codes/blog/reviewing-openapi-swagger-as-qa Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT An OpenAPI spec is a ready-made test plan — every param and status code is a case — and its gaps (missing errors, unbounded fields, drift) predict the bugs. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/rest-assured-vs-postman https://qa.codes/blog/rest-assured-vs-postman Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Not winner-takes-all — Postman for exploring and sharing, REST Assured for the durable automated suite in CI. The dividing line is lifespan and automation. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-test-cases-login-checkout https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-test-cases-login-checkout Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Concrete, reusable accessibility cases for the two highest-consequence flows — keyboard completion, labels, announced errors, focus management — where a barrier blocks a core task. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-in-pull-requests https://qa.codes/blog/accessibility-in-pull-requests Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Automate the mechanical (axe/lint: alt, labels, contrast) and spot-check the obvious in a PR; route keyboard, focus, and screen-reader testing to QA on a real build. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/api-token-bugs-everyday-testing https://qa.codes/blog/api-token-bugs-everyday-testing Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Treat the auth token as an input: test that it expires, dies on logout, can't cross scope or user, doesn't leak, and rejects tampering — all with your normal API client. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/safe-security-bug-reports https://qa.codes/blog/safe-security-bug-reports Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A security report has extra duties: private channel, impact over exploit, test data only, redacted evidence, clear severity — getting it fixed without making it worse. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/ios-vs-android-testing-differences https://qa.codes/blog/ios-vs-android-testing-differences Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Fragmentation, permissions, system-back, lifecycle, hardware layout, and notifications diverge between platforms — so a pass on one isn't evidence for the other. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/real-device-vs-emulator https://qa.codes/blog/real-device-vs-emulator Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Not a purity contest — emulators for functional/UI/CI, real devices for performance, sensors, network, and sign-off. Decide per test whether the check needs real hardware. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/reading-a-k6-result https://qa.codes/blog/reading-a-k6-result Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Which k6 metrics matter and which mislead: check the error rate first, read p95/p99 not the average, confirm the load profile, and compare to a baseline. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/performance-bugs-that-look-functional https://qa.codes/blog/performance-bugs-that-look-functional Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Dead buttons, random logouts, missing data — often timing problems in disguise. The tell is intermittent and worse under load; check latency before debugging logic. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/setting-performance-thresholds https://qa.codes/blog/setting-performance-thresholds Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Derive thresholds from user expectation, today's baseline, and business impact — set on p95/p99 with an error-rate gate, tiered by criticality — not a made-up 'under 2s'. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/qa-weekly-status-report https://qa.codes/blog/qa-weekly-status-report Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A short, risk-first status format: lead with a one-line risk verdict, then what's at risk, key findings, light coverage numbers, and explicit asks — built to drive a decision. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/saying-not-ready-for-release https://qa.codes/blog/saying-not-ready-for-release Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Frame it as risk for the owner to decide, not a veto: specific, reproduced, impact-led, with options attached — surfaced early, not as a sign-off-meeting ambush. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/qa-handover-notes https://qa.codes/blog/qa-handover-notes Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Write an operating manual for the arriver, not a diary: current state, setup, known issues with status, gotchas, and pointers — so someone can take over without asking you. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/qa-cv-mistakes https://qa.codes/blog/qa-cv-mistakes Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Tool-list-as-skills, duties not achievements, no quantified impact, generic and untailored — and the reframe that fixes them: prove you're good at testing, don't describe the job. Career https://qa.codes/blog/what-senior-qa-interviews-test https://qa.codes/blog/what-senior-qa-interviews-test Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Senior interviews assess judgement, prioritisation, and influence — not deeper tool trivia. Prep risk-based reasoning, trade-off thinking, and stories of influencing decisions. Career https://qa.codes/blog/talking-about-bugs-in-interviews-star https://qa.codes/blog/talking-about-bugs-in-interviews-star Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Use STAR to keep a bug story focused on your judgement: brief Situation and Task, an Action with reasoning, and a Result with impact — and pick a bug that shows thinking, not luck. Career https://qa.codes/blog/qa-career-paths https://qa.codes/blog/qa-career-paths Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT An honest map of QA's branches — deepening manual, automation, SDET, lead, manager — each rewarding different strengths, none 'up' from the others. Choose by what you like doing. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/claude-code-for-qa-without-breaking-your-repo https://qa.codes/blog/claude-code-for-qa-without-breaking-your-repo Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Get the speed of an AI agent on your test repo without the mess: work on a branch, review every change like a junior's PR, and make tests fail first to catch assert-nothing tests. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/ai-test-case-generation-help-and-fail https://qa.codes/blog/ai-test-case-generation-help-and-fail Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT AI covers the expected cases fast and misses the suspicion-driven ones that catch bugs. Division of labour: let it handle breadth of the predictable; you handle the unexpected. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/what-changed-in-qa-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/what-changed-in-qa-2026 Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A dated June 2026 snapshot: AI became a normal tool and testing-AI a normal job; the fundamentals didn't budge; 'AI replaces QA' is still a slide. QA trends https://qa.codes/blog/ai-real-impact-on-qa-roles https://qa.codes/blog/ai-real-impact-on-qa-roles Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A dated June 2026 take: AI is reshaping QA roles, not eliminating them — eating the mechanical middle, raising the value of judgement, and re-pricing which skills pay. QA trends https://qa.codes/blog/where-shift-left-actually-landed https://qa.codes/blog/where-shift-left-actually-landed Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A dated June 2026 retrospective: shift-left landed as a sensible default oversold as a revolution — real early-bug wins, real damage where it meant 'delete QA'. QA trends https://qa.codes/blog/state-of-test-automation-tooling-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/state-of-test-automation-tooling-2026 Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A dated June 2026 landscape: web E2E consolidated, API stayed code-first+GUI, performance went lightweight, mobile stayed fragmented, and AI became an authoring feature not a category. QA trends https://qa.codes/blog/custom-cypress-commands-that-pay-off https://qa.codes/blog/custom-cypress-commands-that-pay-off Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most teams over-abstract too early. Four custom commands are worth writing on every Cypress project — login, seed, intercept, visit. The rest can wait. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/how-cypress-retry-ability-works https://qa.codes/blog/how-cypress-retry-ability-works Sat, 02 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Cypress retries commands until they pass or time out — but only some commands, and only some of the time. Understanding which is the difference between solid tests and flaky ones. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/you-probably-dont-need-a-page-object-model https://qa.codes/blog/you-probably-dont-need-a-page-object-model Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT POM was a Selenium-era solution to a Selenium-era problem. In modern Cypress and Playwright, custom commands and locator helpers cover 90% of what POM was supposed to give you. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-vs-cypress-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-vs-cypress-2026 Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT After shipping production suites in both, here's the honest breakdown — where Playwright pulls ahead, where Cypress still wins, and the single factor that should actually decide it. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/manual-to-automation-transition-guide https://qa.codes/blog/manual-to-automation-transition-guide Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Six months from your first if-statement to your first paid automation contract — if you focus. Here's the path I'd take if I were starting today. Career https://qa.codes/blog/week-flaky-test-rate-dropped https://qa.codes/blog/week-flaky-test-rate-dropped Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Our CI was failing 18% of runs to flakes we'd stopped looking at. One week, four changes, no new tests. Here's what we actually did. Field notes https://qa.codes/blog/cypress-fixtures-vs-tasks-vs-intercepts https://qa.codes/blog/cypress-fixtures-vs-tasks-vs-intercepts Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Cypress has three features that look similar but solve completely different problems. Fixtures are static data. Tasks are Node-side escape hatches. Intercepts are network shape. Here's the boundary. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/cypress-intercept-the-right-way https://qa.codes/blog/cypress-intercept-the-right-way Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT cy.intercept is the most powerful command in Cypress and the one teams most often misuse. Here's the playbook: when to alias, when to stub, when to spy, and the race-condition-shaped bug that intercepts usually catch. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-trace-viewer-mastery https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-trace-viewer-mastery Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT The Playwright trace viewer is the single feature most arguments for Playwright should lead with. Most teams use 10% of it. Here are the five patterns to look for in every trace. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-fixtures-explained https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-fixtures-explained Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most explanations of Playwright fixtures lean on React-hook metaphors that miss the point. Fixtures are scoped factories. Here's what to do with them and the three every project should have. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-auto-waiting-internals https://qa.codes/blog/playwright-auto-waiting-internals Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Cypress retries commands; Playwright auto-waits on actionability. Same problem, different solution. Here's what Playwright is actually doing when you call .click(). Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/stop-writing-bdd-tests-you-dont-need https://qa.codes/blog/stop-writing-bdd-tests-you-dont-need Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Cucumber and Gherkin make sense when non-technical stakeholders write tests. They don't make sense when engineers write tests for engineers. Here's the pragmatic test: who actually reads your tests? Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/data-testid-isnt-a-test-smell https://qa.codes/blog/data-testid-isnt-a-test-smell Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT There's a take going around that data-testid 'couples tests to implementation.' It's exactly backwards — data-testid is the only selector explicitly decoupled from implementation. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/vitest-vs-jest-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/vitest-vs-jest-2026 Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT The unit-test-runner version of the Playwright vs Cypress post. I've shipped both in production. If I were starting fresh today, Vitest. Here's why, with real numbers. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/the-flaky-test-tax-no-one-talks-about https://qa.codes/blog/the-flaky-test-tax-no-one-talks-about Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Flaky tests don't cost you in CI minutes. They cost you in developer trust. And the compounding interest on lost trust is the most expensive tax in engineering. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/github-actions-vs-circleci-for-test-suites https://qa.codes/blog/github-actions-vs-circleci-for-test-suites Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT I've run production Cypress and Playwright suites in both GitHub Actions and CircleCI for the last year. Here's where each one pulls ahead, where each one tripped me up, and the single factor that should decide it. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/the-sdet-interview-loop-decoded https://qa.codes/blog/the-sdet-interview-loop-decoded Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT The SDET interview loop is four rounds in a trench coat: live coding, system design, framework selection, behavioural. Each round tests something different. Here's what each one is actually looking for. Career https://qa.codes/blog/from-sdet-to-qa-lead-the-shift-no-one-warns-you-about https://qa.codes/blog/from-sdet-to-qa-lead-the-shift-no-one-warns-you-about Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT The transition from SDET to QA Lead is brutal in a way the title doesn't telegraph. You stop being measured on what you ship and start being measured on what your team ships. Career https://qa.codes/blog/ai-generated-tests-useful-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think https://qa.codes/blog/ai-generated-tests-useful-but-not-for-the-reason-you-think Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT AI writes 80% of a test 80% of the way, and the remaining 20% is exactly the part that makes it a test. Where AI saves time, where it's a trap, and the distinction that separates the two. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/using-claude-and-copilot-for-test-writing https://qa.codes/blog/using-claude-and-copilot-for-test-writing Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT The practical playbook for AI-assisted test writing in 2026. The prompts that work, the prompts that don't, and the human-in-the-loop checkpoints that keep AI from writing tests that pass for the wrong reasons. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/axe-playwright-walkthrough https://qa.codes/blog/axe-playwright-walkthrough Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT axe-core is the engine behind most accessibility testing in 2026 — and it's surprisingly approachable. Here's a practical walkthrough of integrating axe with Playwright, what it catches, and what it misses. Tutorials https://qa.codes/blog/lighthouse-score-isnt-a-test https://qa.codes/blog/lighthouse-score-isnt-a-test Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT A 100 Lighthouse accessibility score doesn't mean your site is accessible. The score is a smoke alarm — useful, but not a test. Here's what it actually measures, and what you still need to check manually. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/the-test-pyramid-is-a-vibe-not-a-rule https://qa.codes/blog/the-test-pyramid-is-a-vibe-not-a-rule Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT The Cohn test pyramid has been gospel since 2009. It was a useful heuristic for a 2009 monolith Java app. It's been quoted unchanged ever since — and most modern stacks don't fit its shape. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/postman-vs-insomnia-vs-bruno-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/postman-vs-insomnia-vs-bruno-2026 Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Three tools, three very different bets on what API testing should feel like. I've been comparing them for teams who want to move off ad-hoc curl scripts, and here's the pick. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/appium-vs-detox-vs-maestro-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/appium-vs-detox-vs-maestro-2026 Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT Mobile test automation is the last frontier where 'just pick the obvious tool' doesn't apply. Three credible options in 2026 — each making a different bet. Here's the comparison. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/test-plans-nobody-reads https://qa.codes/blog/test-plans-nobody-reads Thu, 27 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT The 40-page IEEE 829 test plan: written once at kickoff, opened twice during the project, abandoned after release. There's a single-page replacement that teams actually update. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/api-tests-as-documentation https://qa.codes/blog/api-tests-as-documentation Tue, 25 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Wiki pages about APIs go stale in three months. The API test suite gets opened every single day. Write tests that read like documentation — and stop writing the wiki. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/visual-regression-tools-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/visual-regression-tools-2026 Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Four contenders for visual regression in 2026. The dollar cost is easy to compare; the review-fatigue cost is the one no one warns you about. Here's the comparison and the pick. Comparisons https://qa.codes/blog/contract-testing-explained-without-pact-marketing https://qa.codes/blog/contract-testing-explained-without-pact-marketing Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT Contract testing is two things wearing one name: a model and a tool. The model is genuinely useful; the marketing for the tool oversells where it fits. Here's the model, separated from any vendor's pitch. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/load-tests-in-ci-the-honest-version https://qa.codes/blog/load-tests-in-ci-the-honest-version Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT The pitch: 'run load tests on every PR.' The reality: you'll have flaky thresholds in three days and disabled tests in two weeks. Here's the four-tier strategy that actually survives. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/rest-vs-graphql-testing-the-real-differences https://qa.codes/blog/rest-vs-graphql-testing-the-real-differences Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT Most 'REST vs GraphQL' content is about API design. The testing perspective is different — query construction, schema-aware tooling, the N+1-shaped test bug, and why GraphQL flips the test pyramid. Deep dives https://qa.codes/blog/manual-exploratory-testing-isnt-dead-its-underused https://qa.codes/blog/manual-exploratory-testing-isnt-dead-its-underused Tue, 21 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT What automation replaced was regression checks — running the same path repeatedly. What it didn't replace, and can't replace, is human intuition trying to break a product. Opinions https://qa.codes/blog/k6-vs-jmeter-vs-gatling-2026 https://qa.codes/blog/k6-vs-jmeter-vs-gatling-2026 Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT Three load-testing tools with three radically different ergonomics. JMeter has the 2004 XML/GUI legacy. Gatling stakes everything on Scala. k6 is the JavaScript-first newcomer. Here's the pick. Comparisons