Course Structure: QA Professional with Core Java

Module 1: Introduction to Software Testing (7 Days)

Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Software Testing (2 Days)

Sub-Chapter 1.1: What is Software Testing?

Definition and Importance
Types of Defects: Critical, Major, Minor
Verification vs. Validation: Difference and Importance
Fun Fact: Cost of fixing defects increases exponentially the later they are found in the SDLC.

Sub-Chapter 1.2: Types of Testing

Manual vs. Automated Testing
Functional vs. Non-Functional Testing
Static vs. Dynamic Testing
New Concept: Risk-Based Testing
- Prioritizing tests based on the risk and impact of failure.

Chapter 2: Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) (3 Days)

Sub-Chapter 2.1: Phases of SDLC

Requirement Gathering, Design, Implementation, Testing, Deployment, Maintenance
New Concept: V-Model in SDLC: Testing happens in parallel with development phases.

Sub-Chapter 2.2: Agile and Waterfall Models

Agile: Iterative, flexible approach
Waterfall: Sequential, linear approach
Hybrid Models: A combination of Agile and Waterfall practices.

Chapter 3: Testing Levels and Types (2 Days)

Sub-Chapter 3.1: Levels of Testing

Unit Testing, Integration Testing, System Testing, Acceptance Testing
Alpha & Beta Testing

Sub-Chapter 3.2: Common Testing Types

Regression Testing, Smoke Testing, Performance Testing
Sanity Testing
New Concept: Test Design Techniques
- Equivalence Partitioning
- Boundary Value Analysis
- Decision Table Testing
- State Transition Testing
- Error Guessing

Module 2: Core Java for Test Automation (20 Days)

Chapter 1: Introduction to Java (2 Days)

Java Overview and Environment Setup
- JVM, JRE, JDK: Differences and purpose

Chapter 2: Java Basics (5 Days)

Data Types and Variables, Control Structures, Functions, and Methods
- Type Casting (Implicit and Explicit)
- New Concept: Java Annotations
  - Built-in annotations: @Override, @Deprecated, @SuppressWarnings
  - Custom annotations in Java.

Chapter 3: Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) (6 Days)

Classes, Objects, Inheritance, Polymorphism, Encapsulation, and Abstraction.
- New Concept: Advanced Exception Handling
  - Custom Exceptions
  - Chained Exceptions (handling related exceptions).

Chapter 4: Collections Framework (4 Days)

List, Set, Map Interfaces, Iterators, for-each Loop.
- New Concept: Java Generics
  - Working with collections using generics for type safety.

Chapter 5: File Handling and I/O Streams (3 Days)

Reading and Writing Files, Serialization.
- File Class and Methods for checking file properties.

Chapter 6: Advanced Java Concepts (New Chapter – 5 Days)

New Concept: Java Concurrency and Multithreading

Threads and Runnable Interface
Synchronization, Locks, and ExecutorService for managing thread pools.

New Concept: Lambda Expressions and Stream API

Functional interfaces and lambda expressions for concise code.
Stream API for advanced collection operations like filtering, mapping, and reducing data.

New Concept: Java Reflection

Using reflection to dynamically inspect and manipulate classes and methods at runtime, beneficial in test automation frameworks.

Module 3: Test Automation Frameworks (15 Days)

Chapter 1: Introduction to Test Automation (3 Days)

Importance of Automation, Overview of Tools
- Keyword-Driven Testing vs. Data-Driven Testing.

Chapter 2: Selenium WebDriver (6 Days)

Selenium Basics, Locators, Writing Test Scripts
- New Concept: Waits in Selenium (Implicit, Explicit, Fluent)
- New Concept: Page Object Model (POM)
  - Designing scalable and maintainable automation test scripts.

Chapter 3: TestNG Framework (3 Days)

TestNG Overview, Annotations, Test Suite Management
- New Concept: Parallel Test Execution in TestNG
  - Setting up TestNG.xml for parallel execution.

Chapter 4: Continuous Integration (3 Days)

CI/CD Concepts, Jenkins Integration
- New Concept: Automating Reports with Jenkins and Maven
  - Integrating testing reports for continuous feedback.

Module 4: Advanced Testing Concepts (10 Days)

Chapter 1: Performance Testing (4 Days)

Load Testing, Stress Testing, Endurance Testing
- Capacity Planning for performance testing.

Chapter 2: API Testing (3 Days)

API Testing Fundamentals, Postman usage
- REST vs. SOAP APIs and their differences.

Chapter 3: Security Testing (3 Days)

Introduction to Security Testing, Common Vulnerabilities (SQL Injection, XSS)
- New Concept: OWASP Top 10 Vulnerabilities
  - Understanding the top vulnerabilities in web applications.

Module 5: Soft Skills and Career Development (5 Days)

Chapter 1: Communication Skills (2 Days)

Verbal and Written Communication
- Effective Collaboration with cross-functional teams.

Chapter 2: Interview Preparation (3 Days)

Common QA Interview Questions, Building a Strong Resume
- New Concept: How to Showcase Automation Projects in Interviews
  - Highlighting practical automation experience in interviews and on resumes.

Optional Modules

Module 6: Database Testing (Optional – 5 Days)

SQL Basics: Writing queries to validate data
Database Testing Tools: Using tools like DBUnit for validation.

Module 7: Mobile Application Testing (Optional – 5 Days)

Android and iOS Testing Fundamentals
Tools like Appium for mobile automation.

Module 8: Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) (Optional – 5 Days)

BDD Concepts, Gherkin Syntax (Given-When-Then)
Integrating Cucumber with Selenium and TestNG.

Additional Topics and Hands-On Projects

Data-Driven Testing: Using external data sources like Excel or CSV files to drive tests.
- Example: Using Apache POI to read/write Excel files for test data.
Cross-Browser Testing: Running automated tests across different browsers using Selenium Grid or cloud services like BrowserStack or SauceLabs.

Learning Approach:

Hands-on Projects:
- Develop test cases for a real-world e-commerce website.
- Automate regression tests using Selenium and TestNG with continuous integration.
Interactive Quizzes and Mini Projects at the end of each chapter to reinforce learning.

This course structure now provides a complete roadmap for anyone aiming to master software testing, automation, and Java programming, covering both basic and advanced concepts with practical, hands-on learning.