beautiful testing book cover 
If you wanted a Christmas present, I’m here for you. My last employer, Socialtext, developed one of the first long-term successful selenium implementations. We called them wikiQtests, as they were tests expressed in a wiki that contained selenium commands. The folks at O’Reilly asked me to contribute a chapter to the book Beautiful Testing on the topic.
That framework lasted ten years – longer than three sets of senior management. Today, I’m going to make my chapter of Beautiful Testing, chapter 16, available for Download for free. This is what you’d call actually free. You don’t need to give me your name, email address, or phone number to sign up. You can just click and download. Save it for later or come back and get it later.
The chapter is laid out a bit like a logic proof. I make the argument that good testing should be light, easy, fun, and valuable. Then I tear into everything that is not that. The logic holds, as do the conclusions. Today, I’m not so sure about the implications.
At the time (2010), I thought “we did it right at Socialtext, be like us.” In a sea of test automation failure, we were the way.
Today, I wonder if we were the exception, not the rule.
That is, the system forces that made it possible for us to be successful do not apply to everyone.
I’m going to be exploring what those system forces are, from a broader perspective, in the year to come.
For now, read the chapter. If you’d like to be kept up with what we are working on, Sign up for the email list.
Let’s make this the best year ever.