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Roadmap · Updated May 2026

The QA Engineer trek

Manual testing, test automation, API testing, performance testing, security testing basics, and the CI integration that makes quality a team property.

Stages
12
Estimated time
6 months
Level
Beginner → Advanced
Maintained by
3 practitioners
01
Stage 01

Testing fundamentals & mindset

What quality engineering actually means, the testing pyramid, and the mindset that makes QA engineers valuable beyond just finding bugs.

TestingFundamentalsBeginner
02
Stage 02

Manual testing techniques

Exploratory testing, equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis, and the techniques that structured testers use to find what automated tests miss.

Manual TestingExploratoryTest Cases
03
Stage 03

API testing

REST and GraphQL API testing with Postman, automated API tests, and contract testing.

API TestingPostmanREST Assured
04
Stage 04

Web UI automation with Playwright

Modern browser automation: Playwright for reliable, fast, cross-browser E2E tests.

PlaywrightE2EBrowser Automation
05
Stage 05

Test automation frameworks

Structuring automation projects: design patterns, reporting, parallel execution, and maintaining test suites at scale.

Test ArchitectureReportingCI Integration
06
Stage 06

Performance testing

Load testing, stress testing, and the metrics that tell you whether your system will survive production traffic.

Performance Testingk6JMeter
07
Stage 07

Mobile testing

Testing iOS and Android apps: real device testing, Appium, and the challenges unique to mobile.

Mobile TestingAppiumiOSAndroid
08
Stage 08

Security testing basics

OWASP Top 10 for QAs, basic vulnerability scanning, and the security checks every QA team should run.

Security TestingOWASPDAST
09
Stage 09

CI/CD & quality metrics

Integrating tests into CI, test reporting, coverage metrics, and the quality gates that prevent bad code from shipping.

CI/CDGitHub ActionsQuality Metrics
10
Stage 10

Test strategy & planning

Writing a test strategy document, managing a test suite at scale, and the quality conversations that make teams ship with confidence.

Test StrategyPlanningSenior QA
11
Stage 11

Advanced automation patterns

AI-assisted testing, visual testing, accessibility automation, and the patterns that make test suites maintainable for years.

AdvancedVisual TestingAI Testing
12
Stage 12

Capstone — quality engineering program

Design and implement a full quality engineering program for a real application from scratch.

CapstoneAdvancedPortfolio

Trek complete. What's next?

You've walked the full roadmap. Now ship the capstone, write about it, and share the path with the next engineer who needs it.

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