Software Quality Assurance (QA) — Complete Course

About this course

What you'll learn

• Module 1: Introduction to Software Quality Assurance
• What is QA vs QC vs Testing?
• The cost of poor quality (real-world failure case studies)
• Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) overview
• Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)
• Roles: QA Analyst, Test Engineer, SDET
• Lab: Map STLC stages to a sample project
• Module 2: Testing Fundamentals
• Types of testing: functional vs non-functional
• Black box, white box, and grey box testing
• Levels of testing: unit, integration, system, acceptance
• Verification vs Validation
• Lab: Classify testing types from real scenarios
• Module 3: Writing Test Cases & Test Plans
• Anatomy of a good test case
• Positive, negative, and edge case design
• Test case prioritization
• Writing a test plan document
• Traceability matrix basics
• Lab: Write 15 test cases for a login feature
• Module 4: Bug Life Cycle & Defect Management
• Bug life cycle stages
• Severity vs priority
• Writing a clear, reproducible bug report
• Using bug tracking tools (Jira, Bugzilla, Azure DevOps)
• Lab: Log 5 bugs with screenshots in Jira (sample project)
• Module 5: Agile & QA in Real Teams
• QA's role in Scrum and Kanban
• Sprint planning, standups, and retros from a QA lens
• Shift-left testing philosophy
• Definition of Done (DoD) and Acceptance Criteria
• Lab: Participate in a mock sprint planning session
• Module 6: API Testing Basics
• What is an API and why test it
• REST vs SOAP basics
• Using Postman for manual API testing
• Validating status codes, response bodies, headers
• Lab: Test a public API using Postman
• Module 7: Introduction to Test Automation
• Why automate? What NOT to automate
• Intro to Selenium WebDriver (or Playwright)
• Writing your first automated test script
• Locators, waits, and assertions
• Intro to test frameworks (TestNG / PyTest / Jest)
• Lab: Automate a login test end-to-end
• Module 8: CI/CD & QA Best Practices
• What is CI/CD and where QA fits in
• Running automated tests in a pipeline (basic GitHub Actions demo)
• Test reporting and metrics (pass rate, coverage, flaky tests)
• Building a QA portfolio for job applications
• Final Project: Full test plan + manual test cases + one automated script for a sample web app, submitted with a bug report

Requirements

• No prior QA or coding experience needed — this course is designed for complete beginners
• A computer (Windows, macOS, or Linux) with a stable internet connection
• Basic computer literacy (installing software, using a web browser, managing files/folders)
• A free Jira account (setup instructions provided in Module 4)
• A free Postman account/download (setup instructions provided in Module 6)
• A code editor such as VS Code (free, setup guide included in Module 7)
• Java or Python installed for the automation module (step-by-step installation guide provided — no prior programming knowledge required)
• A GitHub account (free — used in Module 8 for CI/CD basics)
• Willingness to commit 5–7 hours per week for hands-on labs and assignments

Curriculum