I want to move to software development from my current testing job. I have 5 years of experience in testing. I want to ask my fellow hackers -
1. What are the chances to make this move?
I made this move, because I had a computer science degree but due to the dotcom bust all I could find were testing jobs coming out of school 10 years ago.
Start with learning how to automate testing first. If you're testing web apps learn Watir, WatiN, Selenium, Cucumber, etc.
Next step is learn how to write automated integration tests and finally unit tests using an xUnit framework (JUnit, NUnit, TestUnit). Start pairing with experienced devs and help them write unit tests for their code. If you can pick up some BDD style testing here that's even better.
When you start feeling more confident, tackle smaller bugs on the bug list. Eventually your velocity will get noticed and you'll be a full fledged dev in no time.
Start with learning how to automate testing first. If you're testing web apps learn Watir, WatiN, Selenium, Cucumber, etc.
Next step is learn how to write automated integration tests and finally unit tests using an xUnit framework (JUnit, NUnit, TestUnit). Start pairing with experienced devs and help them write unit tests for their code. If you can pick up some BDD style testing here that's even better.
When you start feeling more confident, tackle smaller bugs on the bug list. Eventually your velocity will get noticed and you'll be a full fledged dev in no time.