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 make>your testing worth any more than if you wrote>NOTHING AT ALL. For the broad, general case, James, I agree with you. However, (to borrow a […]
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 people will point out that this is Microsoft’s attempt to win the hearts and minds of software testers, thus, in five years, increasing the number […]
Software Fiction
Jon Bruce continues to improve as a writer. He’s got an excellent series going on now called “Startup” – click here, scroll to the bottom of Startup, and read upwards. In other news … I am also in the middle of a back-channel discussion with Ben Simo and Shrini Kulkarni about test frameworks. This feeds […]
What’s a "Test Framework"?
Shrini Kulkarni has been after me to define my terms; after all, I keep writing about “Test Frameworks” but I’ve never defined the term. Wikipedia defines a framework as “A basic conceptual structure used to solve a complex issue. It also warns that “This very broad definition has allowed the term to be used as […]
GTAC – Bonus Section #2:
We have seen a wonderfully isolated, encapsulated, poly-morphed, design-patterned, auto-tested, mocked app … – That could have been written procedurally in 500 Source Lines of Code– But now consists of 10 classes and 20 files spread over 4000 SLOC Using mock tools results in software with more code (Pettichord, “Homebrew Test Automation”, 2003) If you […]
GTAC – Bonus Section #1
Our GTAC Talk evolved over an extended period, and had a lot more material than the time allowed. So, just for you Creative Chaos readers, I’m going to blog our bonus section. Comments on the Slide Above: If you want to mock out (‘trust’) every domain – including database on db intensive apps, the filesystem […]
Why GTAC is different
As I write this, it’s 3:36PM on August 23rd, and I am sitting at the New York Google Office, just after co-presenting a talk on interaction-based testing. I am sick. Exhausted. Drained. Barely able to give the follow-up speakers the attention they deserve – but I’m trying, they did it for me. And, to borrow […]
Testing the Stapler
To answer the Stapler question, Mike Kelly referred me to this post where he had 144 tests. Yes, 144 tests, and, offhand, they look to be real, valid tests. To get there, Mike starts by looking up the manufacturer of the stapler, getting the specification, and seeing if the physical object conforms to the spec. […]
Test Automation – IV
Right now one of the “louder voices in the room” for test automation is the “Agile” test automation voice. And by that I mean something very specific – that you create a large series of clerical tests that go from acceptance level all the way to unit; that you can run those tests at the […]
Test Automation – IV
Reads of Creation Chaos has left some amazing comments on the previous post; if you haven’t read them, please take a gander. First off, I agree with Shrini that “regression” has too many definitions, and we get confused by it’s use. I think that most of the time, today, when people say “regression tests”, they […]
Test Automation – III
Charlie Audritsh asked: “I take you to mean what I’d refer to as a regression test. A test of mostly the old functionality that maybe did not change much. So yeah. I have to admit there’s a low likelihood of finding bugs with this. What nags at me though about this idea is that I […]
Test Automation – II
I got some great comments yesterday – Charlie and Scott made some solid points, and they are points that I will address. However, before I get there, I would like to fill in a bit more of the back story from the Software-Testing List. Here’s my reply, the next day, after a small challenge by […]
Test Automation – I
(Taken From a recent post fo the software-testing email list) It always amazes me when strong people come out and say publicly something that I have been mulling on for a few months. James Bach’s comments on sapient processes do that for me. Let me give you the back story … I do a lot […]
GreenBar is the New Black
(Or: My Code Odyssey) So, I had a big, nasty codebase. No current documented requirements; a few scattered historical documents. New Requirements of: “Make it to what it did before, only add features (A), (B), and (C).” Now, keep in mind, this is an interface that produces a text file that is used to produce […]
Dev to Tester Communications
Last week I posted the comic where the tester says “Hey dev guy, your tests suck! They aren’t actually testing anything!” And the dev guy replies something like “You’re just being a jerk.” Jon Kohl tells me that I’m only showing one side of the coin; the other one is where the dev guy points […]
Tester/Dev Communications
The space between computer programmers and testers is shrinking – but there are still a lot of communications problems. For example, when I first met Harry Robinson, he was working at Microsoft, and pointed out that Microsoft had a very hard time finding “true” Developer/Testers. Oh, they had plenty of good manual testers who were […]
New Article on DDJ.com …
This week I published Are Tests Requirements? which is inspired by a discussion on the agile-testing list. As always, I appreciate any feedback.
Limericks
Not only did I actually get a reader from Limerick, Ireland, last month, but May 12th was National Limerick day. In honor of that Jeff Fry made a series of testing Limericks – here’s my favorite: Certifications are always a-fruitin’To make resumes highfalutin’.If they don’t certifyWhat they try to imply –Our craft, I’m afraid they’re […]
AST has membership cards!
In an email last week, I jokingly referred to myself as a “Card carrying member of the Association for Software Testing.” I got a membership card in the mail the same day. Number 137, to be exact. The cards are black-and-white with the grasshopper logo, and a “member since” date. Oddly enough, in 1996 I […]
Testing Challenge – II
By far, my Testing Challenge post has been my most popular; traffic literally doubled even though I slowed down my amount of blogging. Despite the increase in traffic, I got very few replies; it makes me wonder if some people were coming back to the site often, just to check for replies … It’s taking […]