Tools for the QA Engineer

When it comes to web testing, people are familiar with Selenium, Postman, JMeter and others. They’re the staples of heavy testing. But what about when testing has to be done manually. What are the sorts of the tools you bring to the party when you know you’ll have to write everything down by hand and keep a record of what was testing.

I was recently going through the tools I use and came up with this short list of essentials. There is always another tool to add to the belt, but at minimum, I wouldn’t start a project without these.

Here is a list of my personal favorites. Some of the tools have changed over time and might change again before next year is up.

For example, I liked Boostnote, but chose to go with SnippetsLab for the Gists functionality.

I think this is a pretty solid list. I’m sure there is plenty of variation with the actual tool names, but if there is some functionality I’m missing, I’d love to hear about it. I’m always looking for a way to save time and increase efficiency.

TextExpander
– TypeIt4Me
– I save so much time using this tool. It helps to write code fragments as well as fill in forms with standardized info like address, phone, company, etc. Saves a lot of typing. It also handles a lot of my most common snippets.
Note Taking
– Mini Note, MWeb, TextSoap
– Mini Note is for quick text items and a way to share info across Macs.
– MWeb is a great way to take notes, write Markup and create documentation.
– I just added TextSoap for it’s parsing. This could be a big help with filtering big files and log entries.
Document Management
– DevonThink
– DevonThink is my trusted friend for document management and note archives. It holds documents, code, links, and just about anything else you can store on your machine. For Windows, get RightNote.
Clipboard Management
– CopyPaste Pro
– CopyPaste Pro is my current clipboard manager and helps with repetitive pasting operations.
Task Management/Test Management
– 2Do
-My standard way of tracking tasks and creating test case items
Code Development
– Coderunner
– Very handy text editor. A great way to run shell commands. Helpful for writing sample code.
Screen Capture
– SnagIt
– It’s capabilities shouldn’t need any introduction. πŸ™‚
File Sharing/Download
– FileZilla
– FTP is alive and well. This is the tool for the job.
Snippet Management
– SnippetsLab, DevonThink
Window Management
– Fiplab Window Manager
– It is so beneficial to be able to resize windows, split screen, and order your work environment.
– Magnet is a great alternative. For Windows, you need DisplayFusion.

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