Manual testing to automatic testing A formal training programme for testers at Bands 3 to 7

Module 8 Programming foundations in JavaScript

Hours 95.5–133, about 14.5 hours. Reviewed at Gate 1.

Purpose

A browser automation tool is a library you call from a programming language. Module 8 builds on Module 1, the basics of a programming language, and gives each person enough JavaScript to write, run, debug, and test small programs. A person who learned the basics in another language moves to JavaScript here. The practice repository uses plain JavaScript with ES modules on Node.js 24: no TypeScript, and no build step. It also meets the base of the testing pyramid early: every kata has unit tests the person wrote.

Outcomes

  • Learning outcome 2: write, run, debug, and refactor JavaScript code to the team's standards.

Depth by track

Module Band 3 Band 4 quality assurance Band 4 test engineering Band 5 quality assurance Band 6 quality assurance Band 6 test engineering Band 7 test engineering Band 7 test management
Module 8 Programming foundations Read and discuss With support With support With support Independent Independent Independent With support

Session plan

Module 8 shares hours 95.5–133 with Module 7, Module 9, Role foundations, Health care foundations, and Gate 1. Its sessions add up to 14.5 hours. The structured course (Decision 3) is the reference for the sessions, and for anyone who wants more practice in their own time.

# Session Duration Format Who
1 Hours 95.5–103: terminal, npm, VS Code, running a file with node, the debugger, ESLint 1 hour Core Cohort
2 Hours 95.5–103: variables (const, let), types and typeof, functions 1 hour Core Cohort
3 Hours 103–110.5: control flow, arrays, objects 1.5 hours Core Cohort
4 Hours 103–110.5: a first unit test with Mocha and node:assert/strict, and reading test output 1 hour Core Cohort
5 Hours 103–110.5: kata practice 3 hours Practice All; the mentor pairs with Band 3, Band 4 quality assurance, Band 4 test engineering, and Band 5 quality assurance
6 Hours 110.5–118: modules (import and export), errors (throw, try, catch) 1 hour Core Cohort
7 Hours 110.5–118: kata practice; Band 7 test engineering starts the harder katas 2 hours Practice All, with mentor review
8 Hours 118–125.5: Promises, async and await, and why every WebDriver call must be awaited 1.5 hours Core Cohort
9 Hours 118–125.5: kata practice 1 hour Practice All, with mentor review
10 Hours 125.5–133: refactoring and code style; kata review, including Band 7 test engineering's harder katas 1.5 hours Core Cohort

Mentor pairing: in hours 95.5–110.5, the mentor pairs with Band 3, Band 4 quality assurance, Band 4 test engineering, and Band 5 quality assurance during the sessions and practice. From hour 110.5, and for Band 6 and Band 7 throughout, the mentor reviews katas instead.

Activities

  1. Variables, types and typeof, functions, control flow, arrays and objects, modules with import and export, and errors.
  2. Promises, async, and await. Every Selenium call returns a Promise: a missing await gives you a Promise instead of a result, and a confusing failure later.
  3. The terminal, npm, the VS Code debugger, autocomplete, syntax highlighting, and ESLint, which catches many mistakes before you run the code.
  4. A first unit test with Mocha (describe, it) and node:assert/strict, then a unit test for every kata.

A first test looks like this:

import { strict as assert } from 'node:assert';
import { isAdult } from '../../src/katas/example.js';

describe('isAdult', () => {
  it('is false at 17', () => {
    assert.equal(isAdult(17), false);
  });
});
  1. The kata set for your track. See kata-guide.md.

Evidence

Evidence 8: small programming exercises (katas), each with unit tests the person wrote:

Track Katas
Band 3 5
Band 4 quality assurance, Band 4 test engineering, Band 7 test management 8
Band 5 quality assurance, Band 6 quality assurance, Band 6 test engineering 10
Band 7 test engineering 10 harder ones

At least two katas check test-shaped data, such as a date of birth or an NHS number check digit.

Assessment

Gate 1 (hour 133) reviews Evidence 8 with Evidence 7 and Evidence 9. The Gate 1 Part D practical is "fix a failing unit test and open a pull request", so Module 8 and Module 9 together prepare for it.

Resources

View this document on GitHub materials/modules/module-8-programming-foundations/index.md