Software Quality Assurance and Automation

This course introduces students to the foundational principles of software quality assurance (SQA) and emphasizes its critical role in the software development life cycle. Students explore concepts such as verification vs. validation, defect prevention, test coverage, and software reliability. The course outlines the responsibilities of QA professionals in upholding product quality, and introduces industry standards like ISO, IEEE, and Six Sigma. Students gain insight into quality planning, process improvement, and audit mechanisms, while also learning how QA aligns with business goals and end-user satisfaction. The course lays the groundwork for structured testing strategies and introduces key documentation practices such as test plans, quality matrices, and review protocols.

Students learn the methodology and execution of manual testing strategies, including black-box, white-box, and grey-box techniques. They master the creation of effective test cases, test scripts, and traceability matrices. The course delves into real-world applications of boundary value analysis, equivalence partitioning, state transition testing, and exploratory testing. Students utilize defect management tools like Jira or Bugzilla to log, categorize, prioritize, and track bugs throughout their lifecycle. Special attention is paid to understanding root causes of defects, communication best practices when reporting bugs, and working collaboratively with developers. Emphasis is placed on regression testing, retesting, and maintaining comprehensive test documentation to support QA compliance and reproducibility.

This course provides in-depth training on automation using Selenium WebDriver. Students write and execute scripts in Java or Python and use integrated development environments (IDEs) such as Eclipse or IntelliJ. The course explores advanced Selenium components such as TestNG, assertions, reporting tools, waits, and cross-browser testing. Students learn to interact with dynamic elements, handle exceptions, and apply data-driven testing techniques using external datasets (e.g., Excel or CSV). In addition to building reusable scripts, students develop modular test suites and integrate them with Git for version control. They gain practical experience debugging failed test runs, maintaining automation codebases, and embedding automated testing into Agile and DevOps workflows.

This course provides a deep dive into the entire software development life cycle (SDLC), from requirement gathering to maintenance, and the various QA methodologies applied at each stage. Students explore Waterfall, VModel, Agile (Scrum, Kanban), and DevOps frameworks and analyze how test activities evolve accordingly. The course introduces students to user story writing, acceptance criteria, test strategy formulation, and requirements traceability. Practical activities include creating test deliverables such as master test plans, traceability matrices, and release notes. Students learn how to adapt testing practices based on iterative changes, client feedback, and continuous deployment cycles. Emphasis is placed on stakeholder collaboration, defect triaging, and the importance of QA in meeting customer expectations.

Students gain the knowledge and skills to design robust and maintainable automation frameworks for scalable software testing. They explore architectural patterns such as Page Object Model (POM), modular frameworks, and keyword/data-driven frameworks. The course emphasizes reusability, maintainability, and low coupling of code. Students also configure and maintain CI/CD pipelines using tools like Jenkins, Azure DevOps, or GitHub Actions. Integration with version control, automated builds, and test triggers is covered in detail. The course includes strategies for reporting, logging, and real-time notification of failures. By the end of this course, students will be able to architect test suites that integrate seamlessly into enterprise software delivery processes and minimize manual intervention.

This course teaches students to measure software performance under various load conditions to ensure scalability and responsiveness. Using tools such as Apache JMeter or LoadRunner, students simulate multiple user sessions, track transaction response times, and generate detailed performance reports. The course covers types of performance testing (load, stress, spike, endurance), system bottlenecks, throughput metrics, and scalability analysis. Students learn to profile system behavior under resource constraints, identify root causes of latency, and recommend performance optimizations.

Aligned with ISTQB Agile Tester standards, this course prepares students to contribute effectively in Agile teams. Students gain hands-on experience with Agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, daily standups, and retrospectives, while applying principles of continuous testing, test-first development, and risk-based prioritization. Emphasis is placed on writing high-quality acceptance criteria and user story mapping. Students practice exploratory testing during sprint cycles and apply pair testing with developers to foster collaboration. The course also introduces the use of tools like Cucumber and Gherkin for behavior-driven development (BDD). Students leave with a strong understanding of Agile QA metrics and how to deliver working software in short iterations with confidence.

This course focuses on functional and non-functional testing of mobile applications across a variety of platforms, screen sizes, and operating systems. Students examine testing strategies for native, hybrid, and web apps, including usability, network responsiveness, device compatibility, and gesture-based input. Students perform hands-on testing using simulators, emulators, and physical devices, and apply test automation using Appium. The course also explores mobile-specific bugs, mobile test automation strategies, battery and memory testing, and compliance with app store submission guidelines.

This course introduces key principles of application security and basic techniques for ethical hacking and penetration testing. Students explore common vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, insecure deserialization, and broken authentication, with reference to the OWASP Top 10. Using tools such as OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite, students simulate security assessments of web applications. The course covers threat modeling, input validation, secure session handling, and data encryption practices. Students learn how to report vulnerabilities professionally and suggest mitigation strategies to development teams.

In the final course, students consolidate their learning through a comprehensive QA project that simulates a realworld software testing assignment. Students plan and execute both manual and automated tests on a selected application, create detailed test cases, log and track bugs, and submit QA documentation such as test plans, test reports, and defect summaries. The project showcases their ability to work independently or in teams using Agile methodology and continuous testing practices. Students compile a professional portfolio that includes code samples, reports, screenshots, and use-case coverage to demonstrate their job readiness to potential employers.