Thomas Cagely recently interviewed me for the Software Process and Measurement Podcast. We talk about the ‘death’ of the testing, the role of the testers, the misunderstanding of that role, the difference between what a tester does and what ‘test automation’ does … it’s a fun time. It’s about a 30 minute interview; you can grab the MP3 here.
Just to clear up a few things, for the record –
* The analogy between the skilled tester as cabinet-maker and GUI-driving tests assuring some amount of quality (more like a mass-produced IKEA table) is not mine; I got the idea from James Bach and Micheal Bolton on their blog post on Testing and Checking Refined.
* On the distinction between Deming’s Plan Do Check Act and The Lean Startup: I find Deming was mostly talking about a process framework (best way to do the work) while the Lean Startup has a product focus. (Best product to build.) I say this in the podcast, but my meaning is not completely clear
* There is at least one very minor but interesting defect in the podcast. First person to find it wins some bragging rights; please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
* During the talk I mention removing the friction in conversations by knowing what our words mean. To be clear: I do not desire to force a standard language on anyone. Actually, quite the opposite – I would suggest that a premature standard of terms could do more harm than good, that our field is young enough that experiments are what is called for, including experiments in terms. While it would be nice if we could agree on terms, I am not for forcing agreement.
And The Big News!
The CFP for the Workshop for Self-Education in software testing (WHOSE) is up on the AST Website. December 5-7 in Westlake, Ohio.
This changing the world thing is getting serious.