Sauce Labs was born from the open source Selenium project and has been an integral part of growing the community of testers who not only use Selenium but who make up the testing industry as a whole. However, we realize that we have been bystanders for too long. That's why our Community team is working tirelessly to reconnect with the brightest minds in the testing industry – the finders and fixers.
We’re committed to creating a thriving community where we can share knowledge, experiences, and collaborate together. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, we have something for everyone. We want to hear from you about what you'd like to see more of, and we're excited to work together to build a community that is passionate about excellence in testing. So join us today, and let's work together to shape the future of the testing industry!
Here’s what we’ve been up to.
Our community blog continues to feature articles about every stage of the testing journey. From the nitty gritty like how to extend your Selenium Grid to best practices from industry experts, like Paul Grizzaffi talking through slowing down your automation execution.
New Shows and Streams
Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out in the field, we’ve recently launched a weekly YouTube show that I hope you like: The Test Automation Experience!
On this show, I chat with industry leaders and members of the test automation community, offering a unique opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and ask questions about the field. It’s a show that brings you the latest trends, tools, and techniques in test automation and software development. Each week, my guests and I explore a range of topics related to quality assurance, including continuous integration, automation frameworks, and test-driven development.
Some recent videos include how Facebook and Google test with Simon Stewart, or you can learn how you can master agile best practices from Lisa Crispin and hear how Kristen Jackvony recommends you level up your skills and testing strategies. We invite you to catch new episodes every Thursday where you can ask questions and get answers!
This week Paloma Oliveira – quite possibly the most passionate open source engineer in the world! – took over the show, to bring a gender perspective to the open source conversation, along with Dr. Maren Werstermann and Mariana Meireles. They demystified what open source means and revealed the importance of becoming a contributor.
We’ve also got a new podcast, Test Case Scenario. Every other Wednesday, our expert panel dives into the exciting and ever-changing landscape of technology, pop culture, and business. Host Jason Baum, Director of Community, leads the discussion with our esteemed recurring panelists: Marcus Merrell, VP of Technology Strategy; Evelyn Coleman, Manager of Implementation Engineering; Dylan Lacey, Manager of Developer Relations and me, Nikolay Advolodkin, Senior Developer Advocate.
We also have recurring guests on the show – like Titus Fortner, a core contributor to the Selenium project and Senior Developer Experience Engineer.
Our first two episodes focused on the impact of decentralized technology on the world of automated testing and the impact ChatGPT might have on the testing process. We’ve got many more great topics planned, and would love to hear from you about what you want to hear more about.
You can also hang out with us on Twitch for our weekly streams to learn about new tools, try interesting ideas, and get troubleshooting tips. Dylan Lacey hosts three streams per week: a coding variety show where he investigates new software tools and does live development; an open source software stream, with coding challenges; and for the next 10 Tuesdays, Dylan is going to be making a mobile app from scratch, including reactivity and tests.
Open Source Community Fellowship
Another program that we’re really excited about is our open source fellowship focused on revamping and open sourcing Elemental Selenium that started this past December.
We chose this because Sauce Labs exists because of an open source project, created by one of our co-founders, Jason Huggins. Open source is not only our legacy, but we also fully embrace our obligation to nurture and contribute to the community from which we came.
We’re passionate about this fellowship and what it aims to do: foster diversity in the open source community by providing paid training for five people over a period of six months. It aims to help aspiring technologists gain a footing in the tech world and expand their knowledge and skills. We’re about halfway through the fellowship and it couldn’t be better!
Head over to our community blog to read the profiles of our first five fellows, Janackeh Blackwell, Django Skorupa, Esther Cotton, Danielle Madry, and Rajene Harris!
Come Chat with Us
This month we’ll be attending SeleniumConf and Game Developers Conference. Keep an eye on where we’ll be in our events calendar. We’re always adding events where we’ll be–whether we’re speaking, sponsoring, or attending to meet and hear from people!
If you won’t be attending these events, we’d still like to hear directly from you. We’re starting a new space in the coming weeks where you can chat, hang out, and share with other finders and fixers! We’re hoping to create a space that enables collaboration and camaraderie.
We really do want to hear from you! You can email any feedback to our Community team.
We’re excited to spend more time with our amazing and passionate testing community!
