Notes on test engineering, distributed systems, blockchain, performance and AIhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/en-ushttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2026-01-10-what-to-read-2025/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2026-01-10-what-to-read-2025/Best IT books I`ve read in 2025Sun, 11 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTbooktestingengineeringReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2026-01-10-step-to-use-ai-better/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2026-01-10-step-to-use-ai-better/One forgotten aspect of using AI for testing and learningSat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTlearningaiTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-11-26-framework-vs-solution/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-11-26-framework-vs-solution/What is the difference between framework and solution?Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTautomationAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-08-07-test-automation-books/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-08-07-test-automation-books/A curated list of good books for test automation engineersThu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMTbookautomationReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-02-27-testing-research-challenges-review/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-02-27-testing-research-challenges-review/An overview of the current state of software testing and open research questionsThu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTtestingpaperReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-03-25-why-we-fail-at-interviews/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-03-25-why-we-fail-at-interviews/Why do we fail at interviews and what we can do about itThu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTinterviewcareerInterviewhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-02-26-ai-and-learning/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2025-02-26-ai-and-learning/Pros and cons of using AI tools (for beginners)Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMTlearningaiLearninghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-10-07-choosing-what-to-learn/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-10-07-choosing-what-to-learn/How I learn or treating learning as a projectMon, 07 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTlearningcareerLearninghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-09-26-summer-2024-books/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-09-26-summer-2024-books/Few books that I read during summer 2024Thu, 26 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTbookReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-09-24-fibonacci-python/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-09-24-fibonacci-python/Multiple approaches to solve popular interview questionTue, 24 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTpythoncodingInterviewhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-09-22-i-already-know-about-it/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-09-22-i-already-know-about-it/What to do when everything seems simpleSun, 22 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMTlearningcareerLearninghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-02-11-integration-testing-examples/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-02-11-integration-testing-examples/Few examples of integration testing from real worldSun, 11 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTtestingTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-02-01-test-engineer-value/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-02-01-test-engineer-value/How we, as test engineers, bring value to the team and companyThu, 01 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMTtestingTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-01-27-interview-tasks/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-01-27-interview-tasks/My thoughts on different interview tasks for automation engineerSat, 27 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTautomationInterviewhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-01-20-ignoring-quality/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-01-20-ignoring-quality/Is it always possible to assure the quality?Sat, 20 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTtestingTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-01-18-why-we-test/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2024-01-18-why-we-test/Thoughts on why we do software testingThu, 18 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTtestingTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2023-04-08-useful-books-in-automation/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2023-04-08-useful-books-in-automation/My favorite books about testing and engineeringSat, 08 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMTbookReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2023-03-25-python-github-api/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2023-03-25-python-github-api/Short note on how to use Github API to get file contentSat, 25 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMTpythonscriptingToolshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-10-30-choose-your-language/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-10-30-choose-your-language/How to choose language for automation? Does it worth to change between languages and tech stacks?Sun, 30 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMTcareerAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-09-25-test-engineer-maturity-questions/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-09-25-test-engineer-maturity-questions/Questions at different levels of test engineer`s maturitySun, 25 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMTcareerTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-08-14-what-is-testability/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-08-14-what-is-testability/How can a regular test engineer affect testabilitySun, 14 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMTtestabilityTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-07-17-most-complicated-tests/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-07-17-most-complicated-tests/Which tests are the most complicated ones?Sun, 17 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMTautomationTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-26-uth-1-how-git-works/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-26-uth-1-how-git-works/Digging deep into how Git worksSun, 26 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMTgitToolshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-19-bchain-test-7-merkle-tree/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-19-bchain-test-7-merkle-tree/What are Merkle Trees - from tester`s point viewSun, 19 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-12-high-tech-low-test/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-12-high-tech-low-test/My thoughts on problems with modern testingSun, 12 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMTtesingTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-05-bchain-test-what-is-blockchain/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-06-05-bchain-test-what-is-blockchain/What is blockchain - from tester`s point viewSun, 05 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-29-bchain-test-5-p2p-gossip-protocols/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-29-bchain-test-5-p2p-gossip-protocols/Peer-to-peer and gossip protocolsSun, 29 May 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersdistributed-systemsBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-22-bchain-test-4-distributed-systems/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-22-bchain-test-4-distributed-systems/A glance at distributed systems from the test engineer`s point of viewSun, 22 May 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersdistributed-systemsBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-08-bchain-testing-3-signatures/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-08-bchain-testing-3-signatures/Digital signatures from tester`s point of viewSun, 15 May 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-08-bchain-testing-2-encryption/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-08-bchain-testing-2-encryption/Encryption from tester`s point of viewSun, 08 May 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-01-bchain-testing-1-hashing/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-05-01-bchain-testing-1-hashing/Hashing from tester`s point of viewSun, 01 May 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-04-24-blockchain-testing-mindmap/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-04-24-blockchain-testing-mindmap/Blockchain roadmap for test engineersSun, 24 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMTblockchain-for-testersBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-04-15-book-reading-tips/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-04-15-book-reading-tips/Few tips on how to read booksFri, 15 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMTreadingReadinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-02-11-grpc-testing-tools/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2022-02-11-grpc-testing-tools/Which tool to choose for testing gRPC services?Fri, 11 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMTgrpcapitoolstestingToolshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-31-2021-review/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-31-2021-review/2021 in reviewFri, 31 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMTreviewhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-23-distributed-systems-testing/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-23-distributed-systems-testing/Distributed systems, fallacies and testingThu, 23 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMTdistributed-systemsTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-10-testing-randomness/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-10-testing-randomness/How to test random number generators?Fri, 10 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMTtestingTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-01-testing-blockchain/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-12-01-testing-blockchain/Different forms of testing blockchainWed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMTtestingblockchainBlockchainhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-08-23-gatling-grpc/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-08-23-gatling-grpc/Examples of load tests for grpc servicesMon, 23 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMTgrpcperformance-testingscalaPerformancehttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-08-09-automation-interview-tips/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-08-09-automation-interview-tips/Few tips that will help you to succeed with automation interviewsMon, 09 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMTautomationinterviewInterviewhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-08-02-blockchain-testing-challenges/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-08-02-blockchain-testing-challenges/Why is blockchain testing not an easy thing?Mon, 02 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMTpapertestingblockchainReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-26-ddia-for-testers/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-26-ddia-for-testers/Why every test engineer should read DDIA book.Mon, 26 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMTbookdistributed-systemsReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-19-allure-github-actions/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-19-allure-github-actions/Guide how to publish reports to Allure server and notify users.Mon, 19 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMTcicdreportingscalaAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-12-should-you-use-contract-testing/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-12-should-you-use-contract-testing/Easy explanation on what is contract testing and why it may be usable.Mon, 12 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMTtestingcontract-testingAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-05-automation-problems/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-07-05-automation-problems/My thoughts on modern test automation problems and how to solve them.Mon, 05 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMTtestingautomationAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-28-microservices-test-resources/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-28-microservices-test-resources/Resources for engineers starting microservices testing.Mon, 28 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMTtestingmicroservicescontract-testingAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-21-paper-review-2/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-21-paper-review-2/Review of paper about Non-Deterministic Concurrency Bugs.Mon, 21 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMTpaperdistributed-systemsReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-12-scala-grpc-api-tests/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-12-scala-grpc-api-tests/Inspired by MoT Bloggers Club challenge.Sat, 12 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMTscalaautomationapigrpcAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-06-testing-regret/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-06-06-testing-regret/Inspired by MoT Bloggers Club challenge.Sun, 06 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMTtestingtipsTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-31-paper-review-1/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-31-paper-review-1/Review of the research paper on testing distributed systems.Mon, 31 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTpaperdistributed-systemsReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-18-test-tasks-pros-cons/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-18-test-tasks-pros-cons/Pros and cons of test tasks for automation engineers.Tue, 18 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTtestinginterviewInterviewhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-17-scala-allure-report/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-17-scala-allure-report/How to write basic Selenium tests using ScalaTest.Mon, 17 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTscalaautomationreportingAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-12-selenium-scala-basic/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-12-selenium-scala-basic/How to write basic Selenium tests using ScalaTest.Wed, 12 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTscalaautomationseleniumAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-05-scala-mail-testing/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-05-scala-mail-testing/Mail automation in Scala: sending and receiving messages.Wed, 05 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTscalaautomationemailAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-03-spring-boot-ui-api-test/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2021-05-03-spring-boot-ui-api-test/Few samples of UI and API tests for Spring Boot application.Mon, 03 May 2021 00:00:00 GMTjavaspringuiapiAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-29-automation-education-tips/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-29-automation-education-tips/Things to consider before starting an internal automation course for QA Engineers.Fri, 29 May 2020 00:00:00 GMTteachingautomationLearninghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-20-making-automation-better/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-20-making-automation-better/In this blog post I share a few tips on how to make automation better.Wed, 20 May 2020 00:00:00 GMTtestingautomationprocessAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-05-squashing-commits/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-05-squashing-commits/In this blog post I will show a quick hint on how to keep commit history clean by using squash.Tue, 05 May 2020 00:00:00 GMTgitToolshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-03-boot-test-unit-data-driven/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-05-03-boot-test-unit-data-driven/In this blog post I will explain how to use a data-driven approach for unit testing.Sun, 03 May 2020 00:00:00 GMTjavaspringtestingReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-04-26-ps-java-course-review/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-04-26-ps-java-course-review/Review of Java courses which I`ve recently completed at Pluralsight.Sun, 26 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMTjavaspringReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-04-25-automation-metrics/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-04-25-automation-metrics/How to make test automation effort more goal-oriented via metrics.Sat, 25 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMTautomationmetricsAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-04-22-se-at-google-review/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2020-04-22-se-at-google-review/My insights after reading the latest book about engineering at Google.Tue, 21 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMTbooksengineeringReviewshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2019-10-17-automation-education-upside-down/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2019-10-17-automation-education-upside-down/Usage of flipped classroom approach in test automation education.Thu, 17 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMTteachingautomationLearninghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2019-04-02-spring-boot-docker-containers/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2019-04-02-spring-boot-docker-containers/Easy way how to make integration and component testing for Spring Boot microservices with Docker containers.Tue, 02 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMTjavaspringdockertestingAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2018-11-08-git-flow-visual/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2018-11-08-git-flow-visual/Tiny remainder about git flow for development.Thu, 08 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMTgittoolsToolshttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2018-09-10-microservices-automation-approach/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2018-09-10-microservices-automation-approach/How canonical testing pyramid is changing as more and more applications adopt microservices architecture.Mon, 10 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMTtestingmicroservicesAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-07-13-unix-services-serenity/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-07-13-unix-services-serenity/How to verify whether specific unix init script is running on remote machine?Thu, 13 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMTjavabddserenityunixAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-04-22-serenity-rest-assured/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-04-22-serenity-rest-assured/Is it possible to test REST services with Serenity framework? Let`s try to find it out!.Sat, 22 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMTbddjavaserenityapiAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-04-06-challenges-in-testing/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-04-06-challenges-in-testing/In the following post I will talk about my experience of testing huge financial systems.Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMTtestingTestinghttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-02-06-serenity-browser-restart/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2017-02-06-serenity-browser-restart/In the following post I will share a quick tip which helps with resolving browser restart issue in Serenity framework.Mon, 06 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMTbddjavaserenityAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-12-19-coding_challenges/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-12-19-coding_challenges/In the following post I will talk about resources for getting confidence in coding as newcomer test automation.Mon, 19 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMTinterviewcodingInterviewhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-11-08-request_unique_ip/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-11-08-request_unique_ip/In the following post I will share a simple but useful script for generating requests to web application from various ip adresses.Tue, 08 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMTpythonscriptingAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-11-07-cucumber-default-config/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-11-07-cucumber-default-config/In the following post I will share a quick tip on how to set up Idea to run scenario from feature file.Mon, 07 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMTscalacucumberbddAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-10-03-cucumber-represent-datatables/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-10-03-cucumber-represent-datatables/In the following post I will explain what are the possible representations of DataTables in Cucumber.Mon, 03 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMTscalacucumberbddAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-07-28-cucumber-scala-transformer/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-07-28-cucumber-scala-transformer/In the following post I will show a quick tip on now you can write a custom transformer with Scala and Cucumber tool.Wed, 27 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMTscalacucumberbddAutomationhttps://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-07-15-cucumber-scala-sbt/https://chirping-astro.example.com/posts/2016-07-15-cucumber-scala-sbt/In the following post I will show how to configure a new project in order to write integration tests with Cucumber, Scala and SBT build tool.Fri, 15 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMTscalacucumberbddAutomation