10 great reference links on fixing flaky tests and improving test automation reliability
1. Google Testing Blog – Just Say No to More End-to-End Tests (April 2015):
Discusses the pitfalls of excessive end-to-end testing and advocates for a balanced testing strategy.
https://testing.googleblog.com/2015/04/just-say-no-to-more-end-to-end-tests.html
2. Martin Fowler – The Practical Test Pyramid (February 2018):
Explores the concept of the test pyramid and provides practical advice on structuring your test suite effectively.
https://martinfowler.com/articles/practical-test-pyramid.html
3. BrowserStack – How to Avoid Flaky Tests (November 2020):
Offers methods to identify and prevent flaky tests in your test automation process.
https://www.browserstack.com/guide/how-to-avoid-flaky-tests
4. Microsoft Dev Blogs – Improving Developer Productivity via Flaky Test Management (January 2021):
Details Microsoft’s approach to managing flaky tests to enhance developer productivity.
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/engineering-at-microsoft/improving-developer-productivity-via-flaky-test-management/
5. Cypress Documentation – Best Practices:
Provides guidelines for writing reliable and effective tests using Cypress.
https://docs.cypress.io/app/core-concepts/best-practices
6. GitHub Engineering – Reducing Flaky Builds by 18x (November 2019):
Shares GitHub’s strategies for significantly reducing flaky builds in their CI/CD pipeline.
https://github.blog/engineering/reducing-flaky-builds-by-18x/
7. CircleCI – Top 5 CI/CD Best Practices (February 2025):
Outlines essential practices for maintaining reliable CI/CD pipelines, including test reliability.
https://circleci.com/blog/top-5-ci-cd-best-practices/
8. ThoughtWorks – Guidelines for Structuring Automated Tests (July 2014):
Provides insights into organizing automated tests to minimize flakiness and enhance maintainability.
https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/guidelines-structuring-automated-tests
9. Sauce Labs – Understand Test Failures and Flakes with Extended Debugging (September 2017):
Introduces tools and techniques for diagnosing and addressing flaky tests using extended debugging features.
https://saucelabs.com/resources/blog/understand-test-failures-and-flakes-with-extended-debugging
10. Applitools Test Automation University – Troubleshooting Test Issues:
Offers courses and resources focused on identifying and resolving common test automation challenges.
https://testautomationu.applitools.com/