I’m overweight. That means: 210 Lbs, 5’11”. Lots of driving, airplanes, lots of coffee, lots of typing (coding, testing, writing), and raising kids will do that to you. Yes, I […]
Greased Lightning (Talks)
Lightning Talks are ten five-minutes talks in a sixty-minute slot. As a speaker, I enjoy them because they sharpen my mind. There’s no time for an introductory joke, no long […]
Testing Philosophy II –
About every four months, Shrini Kulkarni convinces me to drop the term “Test Automation” from my vocabulary. After all, testing is a creative, thinking process. We can automate some steps […]
Ruby Vs. Python for Testing
There is an interesting discussion going on on the Agile-Testing Yahoo Group right now, about the differences between Python and Ruby. It is oddly reminiscent of conversation I’ve had a […]
My theory of software testing – I
What’s the right mix of exploratory testing, “planned” manual testing, and test automation? My short answer is “it depends.” Now, you don’t need to point out that “it depends” is […]
You keep using that word …
Last week I wrote that: There’s something going on here with the way we use terms like “Test” and “Requirement” that causes confusion and misunderstanding. Fundamentally, various groups, like the […]
GASP? … or not.
Doctors have a rule for sterilization, or “Always Wash Your Hands.” Simple things that can be done to improve the outcome of every single project. At the recent, GLSEC keynote, […]
Working with a recruiter?
I seem to hear the same kinds of questions asked over and over again. I recently replied to a thread on JoelOnSoftware about how/when to work with recruiters. I figured […]
Agile Alliance Test Tools Workshop
Elisabeth Hendrickson recently hosted the Agile Alliance Functional Test Tools Workshop in Portland, Oregon. I am impressed by both the idea and the attendees – Ben Simo, Brian Marick, Gerard […]
Technical Debt – V
Overall, I haven’t been happy with the Technical Debt Series. For one thing, it reads like old cliches “Just don’t do it” is just like advice to lose weight – […]
Overheard at GLSEC …
Anytime I hear that “Failure is not an option”, I think to myself that it’s true. Failure is probably not an option … it is assured. — Michael Bolton
See you in San Francisco …
Well, almost. I will be in San Mateo, California, April 15-17th, for the Software Test&Performance Conference. My conference talks will be on “Evolution, Revolution and Test Automation”, “Reinventing Software Testing(*)”, […]
Software Architecture
Long-Time readers of Creative Chaos know that I am a bit frazzelled by the term “Software Architect.” I don’t think it means anything. Or, perhaps, to put it another way: […]
Technical Debt – IV
Last Time I talked about how to avoid technical debt as a contributor. I am convinced that by un-training management you can both restore a sane life and decrease the […]
Do you document your test cases?
We are debating the value of software testing standards right now on the context-driven testing list. Here’s my latest post … >and by the same token writing test cases doesn’t […]
Microsoft Tester Center
Microsoft announced it’s new ‘community’ for software testers last week at STARWest. The ‘community’ (which is a fancy name for a combination webzine, blog, and forums) is located here. Cynical […]
Technical Debt – III
I promised to offer three ways to limit technical debt – Personally, how to impact members on the team you contribute on, and how to impact members on the team […]
Technical Debt II.5 –
I’ve been struggling for the past two weeks to put up a post on technical debt that doesn’t sound like passive-aggressive “how to manage your boss” or “how to trick […]
Technical Debt – Interlude
Something to read while I am on vacation … Tom DeMarco’s Clasic, Excellent, Famous Essay “Why Does Software Cost So Much?” Update: I am creating a new label (or “tag”) […]
Technical Debt – II
Before I jump to solutions, I’d like to take a moment and talk about entropy. (From the site “If you assert that nature tends to take things from order to […]