Working with developer - focused tools can be a challenge for some testers: we may know what the words mean, but haven't used those skills recently enough to make the tasks simple. Or we may not have ever used them, other than at a quick glance to make sure that what we are getting matches what it should be sending. And some give results that require us to go find another team member to help interpret the results.
So when it was suggested that I try the 30 Days of Postman challenge, I was delighted - and a bit scared. I don't code much on my job, and I knew just enough about Postman to know that coding was part of it - at least to create custom steps. A quick visit to https://www.postman.com/postman/workspace/30-days-of-postman-for-developers/overview showed that the steps were well-explained, and ranked by difficulty, I was tempted to try it.
Being a more-independent tester has always been one of my goals - being able to use the tools that are common in the team, and be able to do at least basic tasks that support my tests with them. Our team used Postman for many of the API tasks that we had, so exploring this tool was a natural fit. There are alternatives it there, both graphical and command line, so feel free to explore! The items that you can do, and tools that help you in other ways , such as Swagger,make API testing not only a chance to explore, but for me served a a way to connect with the team on a different level. Most of them enjoyed teaching, so this was good chance to learn.
I admit - some of the terms and activities may not be as familiar to testers as they are to the development team - this is also a chance to make sure we are using the same terms for activities. Unless you have used either Node or some flavor of JavaScript in your learning, this may slow you down. But that's okay- learning this tool at your own pace without needed to be worried about a deadline may help you learn more - and give you time to set up some scripts that will not only help you, but those in the future that may need them, and quickly.
Working with your developers, once you have tried a few times, is a way to build trust and learning in the team. The skills that this exercise brings can include that you are trying to understand what they experience, as well as the fact that you can be even more valuable to the team. Getting these scripts set up will save everyone time in the future, and make it easier for the next person.
You may be lucky enough to have someone on your team that is skilled with Postman - make sure both of you count this time someplace! It may only be a few minutes a week that you will need, but the fact that their is another person that is skilled will leave them a bit more free time - and you can gain experience in where the tool is used in your organization.
And if you happen to be the only one who uses it? Then you can share this at a lunch and learn, or with your manager - and show the benefit of having these skills. They YOU get to teach: there is no faster way to cement your learning that making sure you have correct answers to questions.
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