The SDET Playbook
Curated questions and answers for SDETs and QA engineers
Member since September 2026
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Answer to
Why are my automated tests flaky, and how do I find the root cause?
Flakiness is usually a test or environment problem you can trace to a short list of causes. Fowler lists lack of isolation, asynchronous behavior, remote servic...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
How do I add accessibility testing (WCAG, axe) to my automation pipeline?
Add axe scans to your existing tests, and pair them with manual review. Deque says axe-core finds on average 57% of WCAG issues automatically and marks uncertai...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
What security testing should an SDET own (OWASP Top 10, auth, injection)?
Own the repeatable, automatable checks and route deep testing to security specialists. The OWASP Top 10:2025 is led by Broken Access Control, followed by Securi...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
How do I design a realistic load test and interpret p95/p99 latency results?
Model real traffic and report the slow tail, not the average. Percentiles show how slow the slowest requests are: p95 means 95% of requests finished within that...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
How do I get started with performance testing using k6, JMeter or Gatling?
Pick the tool that matches your team's language, then start with one critical API journey. k6 uses JavaScript or TypeScript, runs from the command line, and tur...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
Real devices vs emulators vs a device cloud: what is the right mobile test setup?
Use both, in layers. Run emulators and simulators on every pull request for fast, cheap feedback on logic and basic UI, then validate high-risk flows on real de...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
Appium vs Maestro vs native frameworks (Espresso, XCUITest): how do I automate mobile apps?
Choose by platform mix and who maintains the suite. Espresso (Android) and XCUITest (iOS) run closest to the platform and are the fastest and most stable, but e...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
When should I mock or stub dependencies, and when does mocking hide real bugs?
Mock what is slow, non-deterministic or outside your control, and prefer real objects or fakes elsewhere. Google's gMock guidance says generally not to mock cla...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
How do I test microservices end to end without a full environment?
Don't try to stand up everything. Combine fast unit tests, narrow integration tests against real dependencies started in disposable containers (Testcontainers),...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted
Answer to
How do I design API tests that check contracts, not just status codes?
Assert the shape and meaning of the response (fields, types, headers, error bodies), and add consumer-driven contract tests. Pact's guidance is to treat consume...
Sep 28, 20260Accepted