A few months back, I changed my LinkedIn title from dev/tester (or whatever it was) to “Privateer Scholar.” The title is derived from James Bach, who took it from Buckminster […]
When should a test be automated – II
Before we can dive in, let’s take a step back. When people talk about automation, they typically mean replacing a job done by a human by a machine – think […]
When should a test be automated – I
I stand behind my last post on the Holy Grail, but it was often mis-interpreted as “no test automation.” Now, certainly, that’s silly. At Socialtext, we use all kinds of […]
Complete test automation is the Holy Grail?
Recently, Phil Kirkham mentioned a comment he’d heard that he was puzzling over: “Of course, complete test automation is the Holy Grail of software development.” The speaker was talking about […]
New Annoucements up
(See below the “Creative Chaos” banner and description. You know, the text that’s always the same that your brain filters out? It’s different this time. Really.) Working at an innovative […]
Where in the world is Matthew Robert Heusser
For those who don’t know, the engineering team at Socialtext has been very busy putting the finishing touches on our next-generation product. And there’s video. You can sign up for […]
This isn’t the agile you’re looking for – Part II
Unfortunately the industry has latched on to the word “Agile” and has begun to use it as a prefix that means “good”. This is very unfortunate, and discerning software professionals […]
Tester Education – II
The basic idea behind my tester education post was very simple – I would love to publish a book, and the time for it may be coming soon. At the […]
This isn’t the agile you’re looking for – Part I
In the land of software development, Steve McConnell is arguably a giant among men. Seriously – this is the guy who was a developer-contractor-project-manager at Microsoft back when they were […]
Associations
I am card-carrying member of the Association for Software Testing (AST). AST memberships cost $50 USD per year, and are about to go up to $85. I also pay ~ […]
Tech Debt from the IntarWebs
Once again, IT people thinking we’re all unique and special flowers. Call center rearranges the cubes to fit eight more people in. They don’t have power or LAN drops where […]
Research Project on Tester Education
I’ve got my owner personal ideas of what the pain points are in software testing, and my own personal recommendations – and I talk to a lot of people. Still, […]
Newest issue of Software Test&Performance Magazine
The September issue of ST&P is out. It’s on testing software developed on the Microsoft Stack; our monthly collumn is an introduction to Microsoft’s Development and Test tool terminology. As […]
Heusser’s First Law Of Software Engineering
I got to use this term twice in the past couple of weeks, so I’m going to call it a real thing now. Here goes: Heusser’s First Law of Software […]
Bruce Lee!
Someone on the Software Testing discussion list just posted a link to quotes from Bruce Lee, the famous American-Born Martial Artist and Actor. As your read the quotes, it’s pretty […]
Tech Debt – The IT Manager’s Dillema
Chris Sterling has a Thoughtful Blog Post about the IT Manager’s (nearly inevitable) decision to take on tech debt in order to hit a project date. Here’s the comment I […]
Post-Graduate Program in Software Testing?
Up the road from my house is a cosmetology school. These people study for six months in order to cut hair(*). For a long, long time I have considered the […]
Matt’s cool developer tool
At the Tech Debt workshop last week, Ron and Chet reiterated Kent Becks four rules of good software: 1) Runs all tests – and they all pass – with every […]
Craft In Software Development
My latest post of the Test-Driven Development Yahoo Group: — In testdrivendevelopment@yahoogroups.com, “Casey Charlton” wrote: However, I assert the problem is that development is largely a creative skill, not a […]
We’re in the running …
DISCLAIMER: I try not to put commercial stuff up here. Yes, I work for a company that makes a wiki product. Yes, there is a trial version that is free […]