---
title: >
  How did you learn automated testing?
pubDate: 2023-06-30
permalink: >-
  daily/2023/06/30/how-did-you-learn-automated-testing
tags:
  - automated-testing
  - test-driven-development
---

I started to learn about automated testing in 2012 when I took over maintainership of the Drupal module, Override Node Options.

At the time, it had around 9,000 active installations (now more than 35,000), and I was concerned about breaking those sites if I pushed a bug and wanted confidence to make changes without introducing regressions.

Later, I started to learn about test-driven development and how to develop and design software by writing the tests first.

Although I'm not a Laravel Developer, Adam Wathan's "Test Driven Laravel" course was a great resource and information, as well as a number of presentations and talks at PHP meetups and conferences.

Once I understood how to write tests and do TDD, I took any opportunity to practice it, whether on projects or coding katas.

At one point, I was writing module code during work hours and writing tests for it during the evening.

## What about you?

How did you learn automated testing or test-driven development? Reply to this email and let me know.

Bonus points if it was at one of my conference talks or workshops!