Contributor Spotlight: Sasha Kruglov

rbillings

sashak1WebQA would like to highlight the contributions of Sasha Kruglov this month! You can see his history of contributions by checking him out on Github: https://github.com/sashakruglov.

Sasha started contributing last summer. Like many of our contributors he has a full time job. It makes our contributor’s time that much more valuable! Our team wouldn’t be able to do half as much without contributions made from people like Sasha, so we really appreciate when they take time out of busy schedules to help out with Mozilla projects!

Sasha noted that he took a break this winter with a new job. The great part is that he came right back and kept on contributing in the new year! This is a key point about being a Contributor- there isn’t a set timeline or expectation for the time you put in. If life gets in the way, we will happily welcome you back when you have the time and energy to get back to contributing. Sasha spends an average of 5 hours per week helping us out. Some weeks more, some less- we are always glad to get help when contributors have time to spend!

“We don’t know where he manages to find the time, but Sasha’s been a tireless contributor to, as of this moment, no fewer than four of some of our heaviest-used automation suites, and without him, we wouldn’t have the progress we’ve enjoyed.  And, by “contributor,” I mean more than his well-written code, even — his questions, enthusiasm, and desire to both learn from and impart back to us from his automation experiences have all been invaluable.” – Stephen Donner

Test automation is where Sasha helps our team the most. Following a ‘Volunteer with us!’ link is how Sasha found our team. He has worked on MozTrap, Mozillians, Marketplace and Addons. There are so many places to contribute within Mozilla, we were glad he ended up on our team. If you’re looking for a place to help out, going to QMO is a great place to start checking out the different teams. 

Within automation there are lots of different ways to contribute. Sasha writes tests, fixes broken tests, and of course runs tests. He refactors pageobjects to make the code more re-usable and concise. He also participates in code reviews which can help you find possible bugs in tests prior to even running them. All of these areas need help, in each of our projects. There are tons of ways to interact and find ways to help. You can check out our list of Github issues if you’re looking for specific tasks that need doing.

“Sasha has spent quite a bit of time on the Mozillians project working on automation. I’ve really been impressed by his drive and curiosity in helping push automation forward on the project.” ~ Matt Brandt

Advice from Sasha to anyone who is new and interested in helping out:

” I think the best option to get started is to join #mozwebqa IRC [#mozwebqa on irc.mozilla.org ] room and get in touch with someone from the fabulous team. Team members are always welcoming new contributors and are willing to help you and to make you feel comfortable as you’re not a stranger but a part of community from the moment you join. That perhaps is most inspiring thing. And after that everything is already a bit simpler, you choose what kind of help you can provide and what project you can work on. “

Sasha is a professional QA Engineer. He lives in Saint-Petersberg, Russia. He enjoys reading and travel in his free time. In the summer you’ll find him playing badminton or riding his bike. If you see him, #joicey_banichek,  in channel please give him a shout out!