Menopause has totally addaled my brain , what is "easier" Software developer vs automated software tester

[dizzycatdance2]

Hi
In my current role I have been trying (feels like I'm banging my head on a wall) to get back in to software developing sw.
I did b this many years ago.
I am menopausal and the knowledge just. Won't. Go
In !!

Would Iearning automated software testing ast be easier ?

I'm not expecting either SD or ast to be "easy"

Would a short course on ast be more beneficial then a short course for SD ??

Thanks

I know this is deadly boring, but hopeful bump ?

I don't know what any of the means, but I'm starting HRT, which my consultant tells me with help, immensely.

I wouldn’t say automated testing is particularly easier, no. I know in my area, good automated testers are hard to find and so the wages are currently a lot higher than what people would be willing to pay for a dev. Have you thought about a less technical role OP, if you worry the tech stuff won’t sink in? Product owner or scrum master perhaps?

Testing roles can be easier to get into. They tend to need better teamwork, verbal reasoning and general soft skills though.

What languages/technologies did you use to use? Could you get a junior role?

Do you break everything you touch? Do you have a good feel for which parts of a system might break first? Not just software, but in everyday life. I'd use that as a better indicator of whether to aim for a testing or developer role.

I don't know about the automated bit, but I always considered that s/w testing needed a good methodical brain and attention to detail, whereas development was a tad more creative. I moved to less technical roles such as user guides and working standards & methods (CMM anyone?)

Thanks for the replies,
I'm currently using SQL and I'm comfortable using that, but my forays into c# have left me baffled.
I used to program in cobal so u can program just getting into a new language seems impossible.
I always liked the testing aspect I did 20 odd years ago. In liked looking for the unknown / odd way to use a system.

I thought my (no weak) programming background might make doing automated testing easier to learn than a totally new language as a developer.

Depends on personality, doesn't it?
Tester has to be much more consistently methodical & is a job that would bore huge pants off of many people, but be perfect for others... perfect for some Aspies, for instance. I am good at breaking everything I touch, actually, so no wonder I half fancy the testing job.

Still, Of those 2 I'd rather be a developer but that's bottomless/endless in a different way, at least you get to figure out algorithms but revising someone else's code is often horrid.

Does this brain fog lift ??
I'm 50 and lmp was 20 months ago

Automation tester is pretty hard to get into - as PP in my area we struggled to find any decent ones. It's tough. Devs are ten a penny.
Definitely consider something less technical like product owner or project manager (agile quals are essential so maybe have a read of DSDM project management framework as it's all open source and will give you an idea of whether you'd like to pursue it and what role you feel you'd fit in without costing you anything)

I think what I find most daunting is that my role would be fixing bugs in a really "old" system, the sort of patched and repatched "mess" that you need to know a LOT to do even the simplest task.

It just v seems like I hit a brick wall.

We currently don't have any automated testing and I "think" if I was in "from the ground up", so to speak, it might be something I could do ???

I also work in software development. I always have, but for many years I got sidelined into more of a support development role. Then I stopped completely for 2 years.

I started again more or less from scratch about 18 months ago as a junior developer in a c# environment. I'm early fifties and also suffering from a degree of menopausal brain fog. It's been bloody hard but I'm going to write the certification exam in January and I think I'll pass.

The most difficult thing is that you're expected to know so much, even as a junior. It's not enough to learn c#, I also have to know Visual Basic, and support the Dynamics product. I'm frantically trying to get up to speed on Web APIs and Angular because one of our senior developers left. I feel inadequate most of the time and it seems to take forever for things to sink in if I'm just reading about it or doing courses. I have to actually be working with a technology every day for it to make sense. If that's not possible in your job it will be difficult, I think.

There are loads of jobs for .NET developers, fewer for testing, which was a positive for me. Personally, I wouldn't want a job testing. I find it boring and frustrating - having to deal with developers is not always easy. I quite like testing my own work, but I woudn't want to test all day every day.

Support development or third-line development might be something to consider. I enjoyed doing that - you do some development but not the heavy lifting, some QA, some debugging, talking to clients. It's nicely varied.

Could you change track and consider a less hardcore language instead?

Suggestions:

1. Python - much more intuitive for programmers from older tech
2. Data engineering - learn a NoSql technology to go with your SQL, consider messaging technology
3. Become an automation expert by learning a Robotics software like UIPath? Then you can help people to automate very boring tasks like mass emailing, excel etc. Not much programming required..

C# is not an easy language to master..

Thanks again for all the replies, a third line support role is on offer , just not sure I'm up for it , but hearing others struggles / triumphs is encouraging.

How v ever many online courses I try it just doesn't help, but the jump from no experience to fixing bugs level seems impossible , a sort of catch 22, I need to get into real code to really learn the language but I can't get into real code because I don't know the language !!!!

Courses don't really help beyond giving you a starting point. I didn't know c# when I started this job but I just had to jump in and start coding. Your employers won't expect you to be at an expert level, and will understand if it takes you longer. It also helped me to write some applications in my personal repository as part of my training.

You could do this at work, or if you don't have time, download Visual Studio Community on your home PC - it's free. I started off writing an order entry system. It was pretty basic but as with any language, the more time you spend speaking/coding in it, the more fluent you become. I love c# and I'm really glad I have learned it. It seems inaccessible if you're not familiar with OO languages but with time and persistence you could master it.