Learn automation while you don't need it

I have been a software manual tester for 10 years.

Due to the regression tests that I do every other week, it is imperative that I get this function automated to help me with the rest of my job.

I regression test over 90 custom sites for my company and really need to get this done by February 2017.

Please help.

I received this message from a tester a few weeks ago.

He wanted to learn automation and programming and use these skills successfully in 2 months.

Which is very difficult to do.

I don't know why he did not start learning earlier.

He probably thought that will not need automation and his employer will hire a developer for the automation work.

So he did what many people do in similar occasions: postpone.

We don't like change and avoid it.

Our hope is that somehow things stay the same or we figure them out.

And a moment comes when we need change fast and results too.

This is when we realize the mistake of not starting ahead of time, when we don't need the new skills yet.

Fast change happens in stories and movies only.

Real change takes time and is done in small steps.

So, stop postponing learning programming and get started.

It does not matter if you need it in your job now or not.

You will need it sooner than you think.

Next December, you will be very happy that you started learning automation the year before.

What do you need for a Selenium test automation job?

First, the obvious.





Since test automation is programming, you need to know the basics (more if possible) of a programming language such as Java.

And you need to know the basics of the Selenium WebDriver framework.


But this is not sufficient for getting an automation job.



In an interview, you have to convince other people that you know how different things work in Selenium and Java.

For example, 
  1. what is boxing in Java?
  2. what is the difference between method overwriting and overriding?
  3. what is the page object model?
  4. what are the fastest locators?
This requires practicing explaining how things work, what they are and how they should be used.



You still need more for that new automation job.




You need 500 hours of practicing Selenium and Java.

The number of hours is different from person to person.

Some people may need less, others more.

But it is essential that you put the time in for the practice.



Why so many hours?

Because companies will put you to test.



There are 2 types of tests that you may have to do:

1. JAVA coding test
This test happens before the face-to-face interview and is a condition for it.
It is usually done online on a site like codility.com and it can last around 1 hour.
You are given a problem and have to write code that solves it.

EXAMPLE


2. SELENIUM automation test
After the face-to-face interview, if the interview went well, you may be asked to do the automation exercise.
This test is about automating a scenario for a site.
You may get 1 day or more to do it.

EXAMPLE



Going back to the 500 hours practice.

It is very difficult to do well at these exercises if you are not already proficient with Java and Selenium.

Because the time for doing the exercises is limited.

And your solutions have to be very good to get the job.

Best Resource for Improving Selenium Skills? Selenium code

You learned Selenium and Java test automation basics from a book, online course or youtube. 

Page object model is understood, locators are clear, explicit waits and expected conditions are straightforward.

Java concepts such as classes, objects, inheritance, looping, arrays, lists are all covered.

With the new skills, you can write test automation scripts for a variety of websites.

You are wondering now about the next level of test automation.

There is always a next level so what is it for you?

How do you go to it?

What resource should you use for guidance?





Most available books and courses target the beginner and intermediate test automation levels.

There are not many resources available on advanced test automation skills.

There is one place however, often forgotten, that has everything you need in your quest to more knowledge.

The Selenium source code.

It is extremely helpful not only to learn how to use Selenium but also to read the source code.

Doing this provides many benefits such as:

1. it shows how Selenium classes and methods work

For example, how does Selenium find a web element using the findElement() method?
How does Selenium locate an element by css locator?

2. you can learn how a framework is built

Selenium is a framework.

You can learn many things about building an automation framework from studying how the Selenium framework is built.

3. you can learn what good programming is

Selenium was created by professional developers.

What better source of learning than the code that they wrote?

4. you find out what you dont know yet but should know

For example, by reading the Page Factory code, you will learn about annotations.

And reflection.

And design patterns.

And proxy classes.

And generics.

And interfaces.

You will need all these Java concepts (and more) to make the transition to the next test automation level.

So attach the Selenium source code to the project in Eclipse and start reading.




When do you need these new skills?

Lets say that you want to have in your automation project the ability of taking screenshots automatically when an exception happens in a test script.

You use TestNG as the unit testing framework.

TestNG listeners can help but there is a problem.

You need in the test listener the driver object created in the test class or the base test class.

To get this driver object, you will use reflection and generics. 

Another example of using the new skills is creating new locator types.

Selenium provides by default a variety of locator types such as id, class, name, xpath, css.

How about using also Jquery and Javascript locators?

You will need annotations for this.


How to interact with sliders in Selenium WebDriver



Sliders allow users to select a value by dragging and dropping a handle. 

This value can be a price, a quantity, a year. 

The web page could use a textbox for getting the same information from users. 

But with sliders, the page becomes much more interesting.

Read the full article on seleniumjava.com.

Learn Python or Java as your first language?

from http://www.thecrazyprogrammer.com/


There are so many opinions all over the place on what is the best language to learn first.

Is it Python?

Or maybe Java?

To understand better how they compare, I read multiple articles from Quora.com on this topic and selected some opinions.

We start with opinions about Python.

I added the Quora articles links as well in case you want to read more.


Why is Python a good choice for the first language to learn?


FROM https://www.quora.com/Is-Java-harder-to-learn-than-Python

Java is geared better towards applications, where as Python is geared better towards tasks.

Most programmers will eventually need C# or Java under their belt.

Python is generally a language for Sys Admins, mechanical engineers, and other adjacent career paths.

As a first language, Python is arguably easier.

Variables don't need a type, indentation is obligatory so you don't make block mistakes, syntax is very English-like, iteration is very easy, the standard library does a lot of things in very few lines of code, and so on.

Python’s syntax is much more simple and readable than that of Java. 

It also does a much better job of minimizing the amount of code needed to complete a task, which is incredibly convenient for people learning to code as they don't have enormous walls of code to deal with.




FROM https://www.quora.com/Which-is-easier-to-learn-Java-or-Python

http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/176450-python-is-now-the-most-popular-introductory-teaching-language-at-top-u-s-universities/fulltext

Python has surpassed Java as the top language used to introduce U.S. students to programming and computer science, according to a recent survey posted by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

Eight of the top 10 computer science departments now use Python to teach coding, as well as 27 of the top 39 schools, indicating that it is the most popular language for teaching introductory computer science courses

Python has been growing in popularity in the educational realm for at least the past few years, though this survey is the first to show it has eclipsed Java, which has been the dominant teaching language for the past decade.




FROM https://www.quora.com/If-I-had-to-choose-between-learning-Java-and-Python-what-should-I-choose-to-learn-first

Go for Python if you already have a background in computer science and want to apply that knowledge on quickly building something real, that be a web application or software tool. 

Python is very quick and easy to learn, with tons of modules that do any kind of job for you, is less verbose than Java with a great community.


Why is Java a good choice for the first language to learn?

FROM https://www.quora.com/Is-Java-harder-to-learn-than-Python

You can write VERY SIMPLE programs in Python faster than you can write programs of the same length in Java, so in that respect, you can learn Python faster.

For any serious program (longer than a few dozen lines of code), Java is much better because of various safeguards, such as static typing.

Since you spend less time debugging stupid errors in Java, you can spend more time learning the art of programming and software engineering.




FROM https://www.quora.com/Which-is-easier-to-learn-Java-or-Python

To learn, as a first language, I think it's probably Python. I think if you compare a 'hello world' in each language, Python is obviously shorter, and it obviously makes more sense to a complete beginner.

When you get into beginner programs like 100, or 200 line programs, Python is probably still easier, because you're likely using built-in types, and it's obvious what the types and methods do.

When you get into intermediate size of programs, a few thousand lines, or maybe tens of thousands of lines, I think the advantage skews very strongly in favour of Java.

Dynamic typing makes your first few hundred lines of coding very easy, and your next ten thousand lines a complete nightmare.

Learning slows down, and mystery builds. Each object type you add, further increases the mystery (more class types to remember), whereas in Java, it makes things clearer as there is a total rigidity in what everything is.

For learning, I think if you want your first week to be easy, learn Python, if you want your first 6 months to be easy, learn Java.

I've used Python for longer than I've used Java, I've probably written more Python code than I've written Java code.

I was using Python almost before Java was even released, but I strongly (very strongly) prefer Java. Java is just incredibly strict by comparison, and strict means simple, it means not vague, not flexible, not forgiving.

Unforgiving is good, it provides structure and predictability. A forgiving language means it's vague, fragile, and prone to run time errors, which would (and should) be caught at compile time.



FROM https://www.quora.com/If-I-had-to-choose-between-learning-Java-and-Python-what-should-I-choose-to-learn-first

If you've never programmed before, I'd generally recommend Java as a first language. 

Python is a great language, but in its attempt to make things easier, I think it actually makes some things harder for a new programmer. Python hides too much and that makes things confusing for a new programmer.

Python hides this stuff. It all looks like magic.

In Java, it's more explicit what the types of variables are. 
There's much less "magic" that happens.

Unfortunately, if you're relatively new to programming, I'd have to say - Java. 
I say unfortunately because I really, really, really don't like Java. 
Many people will disagree, but, again, some people like washing dishes, too.

The freedom and dynamism that characterize Python are beautiful and powerful things, but they must be earned.

If you start with Python, many a thing will be a mystery and you'll start thinking that all computers work that way. 
Well, they don't. 
It's pretty much quite the opposite. 
So, if you already know how computers work, you'll understand what's going on and know how to appreciate it. 
If you don't, what will probably happen is that you'll lay out your foundations of your programming knowledge wrong and then you're screwed. You'll struggle to find sense in anything.

Go for Java If you are a total beginner and have never learned computer science before.

This may sounds like the opposite of what you've heard, but do it. 

Java will always force you to go down to the understanding of how things really work , instead of Python which tend to hide some technical details in order to make things simpler.

My recommendation would be to learn Java first for many of the reasons others have listed. 

I assume that you have no previous programming experience for the sake of my answer.

Learning Java will force you to learn to think a little more like a programmer as you learn it.

Python is a little oversimplified and while that may seem like the ‘easy’ route, I think it will gain you some false self-confidence. 
Your appreciation for the simplicity of Python can really only be achieved by learning a language like Java first.

Something else to consider is the amount of jobs available to Java developers. Java is pretty much an industry standard for A LOT of applications. 
I think the amount of opportunities out there will be far greater for you by learning Java first. Python will come much easier to you after you know Java and it will be a nice add-on to your resume.


The final decision is yours.


Interested in a Java-vs-Python summary spreadsheet?



Which language seems to be the most predominant in Selenium script development?

60% of all Selenium downloads are for Java. 

This means that companies use mostly Java for Selenium test automation. 

Java is not only the most popular language for Selenium test automation


Source: http://blog.testproject.io/2015/12/03/worlds-most-desirable-automation-skills/

It is also more robust when used in enterprise projects. 

It has mature and powerful IDEs (Eclipse and IntelliJ) too. 

When selecting the language to learn for Selenium, keep this info in mind. 

Don't select the language based only on which is the easiest to learn. 

You may end up learning an easier language that is not really needed on your job market.

How to convert test classes from JUNIT to TESTNG

Everybody that I talk to says that they use TestNG. I am still using JUNIT.
Am I the only person still doing it?


I am using TestNG as well.
I started with JUNIT a while ago and switched to TestNG for a number of reasons.


So you think that TestNG is better than JUNIT?

TestNG is better than JUNIT version 4.

Let me tell you why.

It does not use static methods for setting up and cleaning the test environment.

I am referring to the methods that use the @BeforeClass and @AfterClass annotations.


Oh really? This is awesome. What else does TestNG do better?

You can have dependent test scripts.
Test scripts with priorities.
It is easier to run test scripts based on categories and suites.
It is possible to have multiple data providers with values for parameters.
And test scripts can have parameters.


So many good things. Is it difficult to migrate from JUNIT to TestNG?

It is not difficult.

I will show you how it is done.

We will start with simple JUNIT test class and discuss one by one the elements that need changes.


Great, lets start.

This is our sample test class:
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
 import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 import org.junit.FixMethodOrder;
 import org.junit.rules.Timeout;
 import org.junit.runners.MethodSorters;
 import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
 import org.junit.runners.Parameterized.Parameters;

 @FixMethodOrder(MethodSorters.NAME_ASCENDING)
 @RunWith(value = Parameterized.class)
 public class JUNITClass {
 
  @Rule
  public Timeout globalTimeout = new Timeout(1000); 
 
  @Rule
  public CustomTestRule screenshotTestRule = new CustomTestRule();
 
  private String keyword;
 
  public JUNITClass(String keyword) {
   this.keyword = keyword;
  }   
 
  @BeforeClass
  public static void setUp() {
  
  }
 
  @AfterClass
  public static void tearDown() {
  
  }
     
  @Parameters
  public static Collection< Object[] > data() {
   Collection< Object[] > params = new ArrayList<>(100);
   params.add(new Object[] { "java-author-10" });
   params.add(new Object[] { "oracle-date-20" });
   params.add(new Object[] { "microsoft-title-15" });     
   return params;
  }
 
  @Test
  public void test1()  {
  
  }
 
  @Test
  public void test2() {                 
   assertTrue(keyword.length() > 0);
   assertEquals(keyword.contains("-"), true);  
  } 
 
  @Ignore
  public void test3() {
  
  }
 
  @Test(timeout=1000)
  public void test4() {  
  
  }
 
  @Test(expected = IndexOutOfBoundsException.class)
  public void test5() {  
   throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
  }
   
 }
 


The test class uses many JUNIT elements such as

  • annotations (@Test, @Ignore, @BeforeClass, @AfterClass, @RunWith, @Rule, @Parameters)
  • annotation attributes (expected = , timeout = )
  • test fixtures (setUp() and tearDown() methods)
  • assertions


So we will change them one by one.

By the way, you can follow along on your computer while I make the changes.


What's the first thing to do?

First, we remove the JUNIT library from the project by
  • displaying the Navigator view in Eclipse
  • opening the project
  • right clicking the project name and selecting Properties
  • selecting the JAVA BUILD PATH option
  • selecting the Libraries tab
  • selecting JUNIT 4
  • clicking the REMOVE button


Next, remove all JUNIT packages from the beginning of the class:

  import static org.junit.Assert.*;
  import java.util.ArrayList;
  import java.util.Collection;
  import org.junit.AfterClass;
  import org.junit.BeforeClass;
  import org.junit.FixMethodOrder;
  import org.junit.rules.Timeout;
  import org.junit.runners.MethodSorters;
  import org.junit.Ignore;
  import org.junit.Rule;
  import org.junit.Test;
  import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
  import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
  import org.junit.runners.Parameterized.Parameters;
  

Now, we have lots of errors in the test class because of missing packages.

Second, we add the TestNG library to the project by
  • displaying the Navigator view in Eclipse
  • opening the project
  • right clicking the project name and selecting Properties
  • selecting the JAVA BUILD PATH option
  • selecting the Libraries tab
  • clicking the ADD LIBRARY button
  • selecting TestNG
  • clicking the FINISH button

We also need to install the TestNG plugin for Eclipse:
  • click Help in the Eclipse menu
  • click Eclipse MarketPlace
  • search for Test NG
  • install the TestNg for Eclipse plugin

Done. We still have those errors in the code. Which one should we fix first?

Lets start with @Test.

Click on the error icon to the left of @Test and import the following package:
import org.testng.annotations.Test;

Is the error still there?


No. It is gone.

Excellent.

Now, about @Ignore.

In TestNG, you can ignore a test using the @Test annotation as well.


How do you do this?

By using the enabled attribute.

So replace @Ignore with @Test(enabled=false).

This should get rid of the error for @Ignore.


Done.

Very good.

Now, lets make the changes for the setUp() and tearDown() methods.

Click on the error messages and import the following 2 packages:

 import org.testng.annotations.AfterClass;
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeClass;
 
And then remove the static keyword from the setUp() and tearDown() signatures.


So these methods will not be static any longer in TestNG?

They won't.

How is your code looking so far?


I did all changes. What's next?

Lets continue a bit more with the @Test annotation.

In our JUNIT code, we have a test that tests for exceptions and one that uses a timeout.

For the test with timeout, replace @Test(timeout=1000) with @Test(timeOut=1000)

For the test with exception, replace @Test(expected = IndexOutOfBoundsException.class) with @Test(expectedExceptions = IndexOutOfBoundsException.class).

Do these changes work for you?


They sure do. Everything is simple and smooth so far.


Awesome.

We can work on the assertions now.

In the JUNIT code, we use 2 assertions: assertTrue and assertEquals.

Import the following package:

  import org.testng.AssertJUnit;
 

And prefix both assertions with the name of the package:
  AssertJUnit.assertTrue(keyword.length() > 0);
  AssertJUnit.assertEquals(keyword.contains("-"), true); 
  

The assertions should be good now as well.


The assertions have no more errors. We are making lots of progress.


Yes.

Now, lets deal with the execution order for the test scripts.

In JUNIT, there is not a lot of support for it.

You can run the test scripts alphabetically by name with the @FixMethodOrder(MethodSorters.NAME_ASCENDING).

But if you need the test scripts run in other orders, I am not sure how you can do that.

In TestNG, this is done with the dependsOnMethods attribute of the @Test annotation.

For example,

 @Test(dependsOnMethods = { "test2" })
 public void test1()  {
 
 }
 
 @Test(dependsOnMethods = { "test4" })
 public void test2(String keyword) {
 
 }
 
In this case, test1() depends on test2() so test2() executes before test1.

test2() depends on test4() so test4() executes before test2.


Wow. This is so much better than @FixMethodOrder().


It is much simpler.

Make sure that you update your code before we move on.


My code is changed.

Good.

Now, lets change the code related to parameters.

In TestNG, similar with JUNIT, you need a method that provides the data for the parameter.

This method is annotated with @DataProvider and has a name attribute for the data provider name:

 @DataProvider(name = "data")
 public Object[][] createData1() {
  return new Object[][] {
    {"java-author-10"},
    {"oracle-date-20"},
    {"microsoft-title-15"}    
  };
 }
 
The package org.testng.annotations.DataProvider; needs to be added as well.

Then, we need to connect the data with the parameter.

We do not need any longer to pass the parameter to the class constructor.
And we dont need a class field for the parameter, either.

The test script uses the parameter in the same way a method uses a parameter.

The test script also uses the dataProvider annotation to specify which dataProvider has the data for the parameter:

 @DataProvider(name = "data")
 public Object[][] createData1() {
  return new Object[][] {
    {"java-author-10"},
    {"oracle-date-20"},
    {"microsoft-title-15"}    
  };
 }
 
 @Test(dataProvider="data")
 public void test2(String keyword) {
 
 } 
 
Still following?


Yes.

What else is there to change?


JUNIT Rules.

Right.

In TestNG, you use listeners instead of rules.

They work in a similar way.

Have a look at this sample listener:

 package TestNG;

 import org.testng.ITestContext;
 import org.testng.ITestListener;
 import org.testng.ITestResult;
 import org.testng.Reporter;

 public class CustomTestListener implements ITestListener {
 
 @Override
 public void onTestStart(ITestResult result) { 
 
 }
 
 @Override
 public void onTestSuccess(ITestResult result) {
  System.out.println("PASSED TEST");
 }

 @Override
 public void onTestFailure(ITestResult testResult) {        
 
  System.out.println("FAILED TEST");                 
 }
  
 @Override
 public void onTestSkipped(ITestResult result) {
        
 }
 
 @Override
 public void onTestFailedButWithinSuccessPercentage(ITestResult result) {
        
 }
 
 @Override
 public void onStart(ITestContext context) {
        
 }
 
 @Override
 public void onFinish(ITestContext context) {
       
 }
    
 }
 
The custom listener class implements the ITestListener interface and overrides all its methods.

The listener can then be attached to a test class using the @Listeners annotation:

 @Listeners(CustomTestListener.class)
 public class TestNGClass {
 
 ...............
 
 }
 

This is very clear and similar to the JUNIT rules. With the exception that we dont need to create a class field for the new listener object.

Exactly.

Because the test class know what listener to use through the @Listeners annotation.

We missed something in the JUNIT code: categories.

In JUNIT, you can specify a category for a test script or for the whole test class.

This is done through the @Category annotation as follows:

 @Category({SlowTests.class})
 public class JUNITClass2 { 
 
 ...................
 
 }
 
In TestNG, groups are used instead of categories.

And they are just another attribute of the @Test annotation.

For example,

 @Test(groups="slowTests")
 public void test1()  {
  
 }
  
 @Test(groups="slowTests")
 public void test2() {                 
  
 } 
 
test1() and test2() methods belong to the slowTests group.


OK. So use groups instead of categories.


Yes.

A good side effect is that in TestNg you do not need to create an empty class for each group.

Remember that in JUNIT, before using a category, you had to create an empty class for it.


Yes, that's right. So we will have less classes now.

Yes.

The last change that we will discuss is about JUNIT suites.

In JUNIT, you need test suites to run test scripts from multiple test classes based on categories.

For example:

  import org.junit.experimental.categories.Categories;
  import org.junit.experimental.categories.Categories.IncludeCategory;
  import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
  import org.junit.runners.Suite.SuiteClasses;

  @RunWith(Categories.class)
  @IncludeCategory(SlowTests.class)
  @SuiteClasses({
    JUNITClass.class, 
    JUNITClass2.class     
  })
  
This test suite runs all test scripts from the 2 classes that are part of the specified category.


And how does TestNG solve this?

TestNG uses an xml file called testng.xml for organizing test classes in test suites.

When running the tests, everything happens as per the structure of this file.

In our case, testng.xml could look like this:

 < suite name="My suite" > 
 
  < listeners >
   < listener class-name="TestNG.CustomTestListener" />
  < / listeners >
   
  < test name="test1" >
  
   < groups >
    < run >      
     < include name="slowTests"  />
    < / run >
   < / groups >
    
   < classes >
    < class name="TestNG.TestNGClass" />               
    < class name="TestNG.TestNGClass2" />
   < / classes >
  < / test > 
   
 < / suite >
 
One thing to notice in the xml file is that a suite is made of tests which are made of test classes.

In a test class, you can specify the groups to be used.

In the xml file, you can also mention the listener to be used for all test classes.


So no more suite classes?


No more.

Everything is controlled by the testng.xml file.

Let have a look at the final code that uses TestNG:
 package TestNG;

 import static org.testng.AssertJUnit.assertTrue;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 import org.testng.AssertJUnit;
 import org.testng.annotations.AfterClass;
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeClass;
 import org.testng.annotations.DataProvider;
 import org.testng.annotations.Listeners;

 @Listeners(CustomTestListener.class)
 public class TestNGClass {
 
  @BeforeClass
  public void setUp() {
  
  }
 
  @AfterClass
  public void tearDown() {
  
  }
 
  @DataProvider(name = "data")
  public Object[][] createData1() {
    return new Object[][] {
    {"java-author-10"},
    {"oracle-date-20"},
    {"microsoft-title-15"}    
   };
  }
 
  @Test(dependsOnMethods = { "test2" })
  public void test1()  {
   assertTrue(false);
  }
 
  @Test(dataProvider="data", 
    dependsOnMethods = { "test4" })
  public void test2(String keyword) {
   AssertJUnit.assertTrue(keyword.length() > 0);
   AssertJUnit.assertEquals(keyword.contains("-"), true);  
  } 
 
  @Test(enabled=false)
  public void test3() {
  
  }
 
  @Test(timeOut=1000, 
    groups="slowTests")
  public void test4() {  
  
  }
 
  @Test(expectedExceptions = IndexOutOfBoundsException.class)
  public void test5() {  
   throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
  }
   
 }
 
We are almost at the end of the conversion process.

Lets run the TestNG tests.

They run correctly.

What do you think about converting a test class from JUNIT to TestNG?

Was it too complicated?


With all these details, I felt that it was very easy. I am looking forward to starting using TestNG in my test automation project.


Good luck!

The most vital skill for a software tester to have is ?



uTest: The most vital skill for a software tester to have is ?
Gerald Weinberg: Courage. 
As Kipling put it, 
"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you."
That's what testers need. 
from Testing the limits with Gerald Weinberg 


Courage is very important. 

Courage to reopen that difficult-to-reproduce bug that the developer closed. 

Courage to escalate a bug to the development manager when the developer refuses to fix it.  

Courage of having open discussions about how testing and development can be improved. 

Courage of saying what things are not done well. 

Courage to stop the build deployment to production because there are more serious issues left. 

Courage to start learning new skills when your existing skills are old. 

Courage to leave a job that keeps you doing the same not-interesting, not-challenging work for years. 

Courage of becoming a consultant when you skills are mature so that you can test them out there. 

Courage.


If
  BY RUDYARD KIPLING

If you can keep your head when all about you 
  Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 
  But make allowance for their doubting too; 
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 
  Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, 
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, 
  And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; 
  If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; 
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
  And treat those two impostors just the same; 
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
  Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
  And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
  And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
  And never breathe a word about your loss; 
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
  To serve your turn long after they are gone, 
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
  Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
  Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, 
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
  If all men count with you, but none too much; 
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
  With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, 
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
  And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

You can win at a job interview even if no job offer is made




Any time there is a business transaction between 2 sides, the following outcomes are possible:
  • Win - Win (both sides win from the transaction)
  • Win - Lose (one side wins, the other loses)
  • Lose - Lose (both sides loose)
An interview is a business transaction.

An individual comes to the interview for getting a new job.

The company organizes the interview to fill a job opening.

For the job interview, a Win - Win outcome means that the individual gets the job and the company fills the open position.

What then is the equivalent of Lose - Lose?
The individual does not get the job and the company wasted time and resources for the interview.

And Win - Lose?
Usually, if a job interview is successful, both sides won.

It is unlikely that the individual is successful in the interview and the company loses something in the transaction.

It is also improbable that the individual does not get the job and the company wins at this.

Still, Win - Lose is possible.

Let's say that you go to an interview and do not do well.

You dont get the job and this sucks.

But during the interview, you learned different ways of approaching problems relevant to your job.

Or you identify gaps in your knowledge.

Or skills that you should have but sadly dont have yet.

This is the Win - Lose outcome.

You gained awareness about what you do and, more important, dont do well.

You see how other people approach problems that you struggled with.

This is a big win.

The company still did not get the position filled.

But maybe next time, you will do better.

Java Interview Test - Determine whether given string of parentheses is properly nested

I was given the following exercise at an interview that I attended a few months ago. 

The interviewer wanted to verify not only that I can write Java code but also that I understand simple algorithms and data structures. 

These are the exercise details: 

A string S consisting of N characters is called properly nested if: 

  • S is empty
  • S has the form "(U)" where U is a properly nested string
  • S has the form "VW" where V and W are properly nested strings

For example, string "(()(())())" is properly nested but string "())" isn't. 

Write a function int solution(char *S); 

that, 

given a string S consisting of N characters, 

returns 1 if string S is properly nested and 0 otherwise. 

For example, given S = "(()(())())", the function should return 1 and given S = "())", the function should return 0, as explained above. 

Assume that the string S consists only of the characters "(" and/or ")".


It was the first time being given this type of problem in an interview.

I was not prepared for it and did not do well.

There was no follow up after the interview and no job offer.

But this was ok because I learned something.

It is not sufficient to say that you know Java in the resume or on the blog.

You have to be ready for proving it with short exercises such as this one.



Solution with lists


I thought again about the exercise yesterday and came with a solution that uses lists.

Lets see how it should work.

We have the following string: (()(())()).
Convert the string to a list of characters.

1. Go through the list from the first to the last character.

Find all () pairs: (()(())())

Remove the () pairs to get a shorter list: (())

2. Go through the shorter list again from the first to the last character.

Find all () pairs: (())

Remove the () pairs to get a shorter list: ()


3. Go through the very short list from the first to the last character.

Find all () pairs: ()

Remove the pairs to get an empty list: []



Another way of doing it is
  1. Go through the list from the first to the last character.
  2. Find all () pairs: (()(())())
  3. Remove the () pairs to get a shorter list: (())
  4. Continue while you can find more () pairs.
  5. When no more pairs can be found
    1. if the list is empty, the initial value is well formed
    2. if the list is not empty, the initial value is not well formed


The code went through a few different versions until it looked good.



Version 1



import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import org.junit.Test;

public class Version1 {
 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBrackets()
 {  
  String text = "(()(())())";
  
  //convert the string value to a list of characters
  List< Character > charList = new ArrayList< Character >();

  for (char c : text.toCharArray()) 
    charList.add(c);
  
  //keep removing brackets fromn the list until there are no brackets left
  Boolean bracketsLeft = true;
  while (bracketsLeft == true && charList.size() > 0)
  {
   int pairsRemoved = 0;
   
   //remove the brackets pairs from the list
   for (int i = 0; i < charList.size(); i++)   
    if (charList.get(i) == '(' && charList.get(i+1) == ')')
    {
     charList.remove(i+1);
     charList.remove(i);
     i = i -1;
     pairsRemoved ++;
    }
   
   if (pairsRemoved == 0)
    bracketsLeft = false;
      
  }   
  
 }

}

Not the best code but it seems to work.



Version 2

Version 2 breaks the code into multiple methods (toCharList, pairExists, removePair, isWellFormed) and adds multiple unit tests.



import static org.junit.Assert.*;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import org.junit.Ignore;
import org.junit.Test;

public class Version2 {

 
 //converts a string to a list of characters
 private List< character > toCharList(String text)
 {
  List< character > charList = new ArrayList< character >();

  for (char c : text.toCharArray()) 
    charList.add(c);  
  
  return charList;
 }


 //checks if a () pair exists at position i in the list
 private Boolean pairExists(int i, List< character > list)
 {
  return (i == list.size() - 1
    ? false
    : list.get(i)   == '(' && 
      list.get(i+1) == ')');  
 }


 //removes a () pair from the list from position index
 private void removePair(int index, List< character > list)
 {
  list.remove(index+1);
  list.remove(index);
 }

 
 //checks if the list of ( and ) is well formed 
 private Boolean isWellFormed(List< character > charList)
 {  
  while (charList.size() > 0)
  {    
   int pairsRemoved = 0;
   for (int i = 0; i < charList.size(); i++)   
    if (pairExists(i, charList))
    {
     removePair(i, charList);     
     pairsRemoved ++;
     i = i - 1;
    }   
   if (pairsRemoved == 0)
    break;        
  }     
  return charList.size() == 0;
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsValidString()
 {  
  String text = "(()(())())";  
  List< character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertTrue(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }


 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsInValidString()
 {  
  String text = "(()(())()";  
  List< character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertFalse(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsEmptyString()
 {  
  String text = "";  
  List< character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertTrue(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsShortString()
 {  
  String text = "(";  
  List< character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertFalse(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }
}

A little better code and more unit tests.


Version 3

Version 3 continues what was started in version 2 and creates more methods so the code even simpler:



import static org.junit.Assert.*;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import org.junit.Ignore;
import org.junit.Test;

public class Version3 {
 

 //convert a string to a list of characters  
 private List< Character > toCharList(String text)
 {
  List< Character > charList = new ArrayList< character >();

  for (char c : text.toCharArray()) 
    charList.add(c);  
  
  return charList;
 }


 //checks if a () pair exists in the list at position i
 private Boolean pairExists(int i, List< Character > list)
 {
  return (i == list.size() - 1
    ? false
    : list.get(i)   == '(' && 
      list.get(i+1) == ')');  
 }


 //checks if at least a () pair exists in the list
 private Boolean pairExists(List< Character > list)
 {
  Boolean result = false;
  
  if (list.size() > 1)
      for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++)
        if(pairExists(i, list))
        {
         result = true;
         break;
        }
  
  return result;
 }


 //remove a () pair from the list from position index
 private void removePair(int index, List< Character > list)
 {
  list.remove(index+1);
  list.remove(index);
 }


 //checks if the list of ( and ) is well formed
 private Boolean isWellFormed(List< Character > charList)
 { 
  do           
   charList = removePairs(charList);               
  while (pairExists(charList));  

  return charList.size() == 0;
 }


 //removes all () pairs from the list
 private List< character > removePairs(List< Character > charList)
 {
  List< Character > list = charList;
  
  for (int i = 0; i < charList.size(); i++)   
   if (pairExists(i, list))
   {
    removePair(i, list);         
    i = i - 1;
   } 
  return list;
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsValidString()
 {  
  String text = "(()(())())";  
  List< Character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertTrue(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }


 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsInValidString()
 {  
  String text = "(()(())()";  
  List< Character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertFalse(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsEmptyString()
 {  
  String text = "";  
  List< Character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertTrue(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }
 

 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsShortString()
 {  
  String text = "(";  
  List< Character > charList = toCharList(text);    
  
  assertFalse(isWellFormed(charList));  
 }
}


I would have probably passed the interview with this algorithm.

But is this the best way of solving the exercise?

It is not.

Using stacks instead of lists leads to a better solution.


Solution with stacks

How would this solution with stacks work?
  • Go through the string from the first to the last character.
  • If the current character is (, add it to the stack.
  • If the current character is ), remove the top element from the stack.
  • After going through all list characters, 
  1. if the stack size is 0, the initial value is well formed.
  2. If the stack size is greater than 0, the initial value is not well formed


For example, using the same string value: (()(())())

text[0] = '(' : add ( to stack, stack = (

text[1] = '(' : add ( to stack, stack = ((

text[2] = ')' : remove top element from stack, stack = (

text[3] = '(: add ( to stack, stack = ((

text[4] = '(: add ( to stack, stack = (((

text[5] = '): remove top element from stack, stack = ((

text[6] = '): remove top element from stack, stack = (

text[7] = '(: add ( to stack, stack = ((

text[8] = '): remove top element from stack, stack = (

text[9] = '): remove top element from stack, stack = [] 

The initial value is well formed.


import static org.junit.Assert.*;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Stack;

import org.junit.Ignore;
import org.junit.Test;

public class Version4 {
 

 private Boolean isWellFormed(String text)
 { 
  Stack< character > stack = new Stack< character >();
  for (int i = 0; i < text.length(); i++)
  {   
      if (text.charAt(i) == '(')
       stack.push(text.charAt(i));
      if (text.charAt(i) == ')')
       stack.pop();
      displayStack(stack);
  }
  return stack.size() == 0;
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsValidString()
 {          
  assertTrue(isWellFormed("(()(())())"));  
 }


 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsInValidString()
 {    
  assertFalse(isWellFormed("(()(())()"));  
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsEmptyString()
 {  
  assertTrue(isWellFormed(""));  
 }

 
 @Test
 public void testNestedBracketsShortString()
 {    
  assertFalse(isWellFormed("("));  
 }
}


This version is by far the simplest of the 2 versions that we looked at.

It does not need any lists.

And it uses an algorithm that is both simple. fast and efficient.

My interviewer was probably expecting the solution with stacks instead of lists.




Interested in similar JAVA problems?

Click here for another Java problem with full code.