Think you can be a software tester?

Do you breathe? I bet you do.

Can you eat? I'm sure you can.

Are you using things like clothes, chairs and computers fairly regularly? I know you are.

Then you are a user. And if you're a user, you are a tester.

We're all users. We're all consumers. Across the world, we are customers of each other. The man who makes the bar of soap you use every day may, in turn, be using the very software you made to calculate the size and composition of the soap cake. Every second of our lives we're using something that makes our work faster, more efficient, cleaner, pleasanter; our leisure more comfortable, more interesting,...

Read the full article in the June 2015 post of Simple Talk

1900 words
Nonfiction/Software testing
UK publication

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Words from the Wise

"This is excellent... (It) made me smile... (I) agree with what you say"

Andrew Clarke

Editor

Simple Talk

Developer-tester relationships

Pogrammers program. Testers test. In an ideal world, everyone would do what they were good at (or at least what they were employed for) and the result would be a stable reliable fit-for-purpose product that helped the customer stay happy, the shareholders become rich and you survive to work another day.

The world of software development, though, is far from ideal. Tight deadlines, unclear requirements, limited budgets, and human errors make the office a volatile place with constant fire-fighting. Tempers run high. Patience runs low. Programmers and testers are at each others' throats. ...

Read the full article in the May 2015 post of Simple Talk


2065 words
Nonfiction/Software testing
UK publication

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Words from the Wise

"I enjoyed reading it. It is a very interesting article in places and at several places in the article I thought you'd made some very valuable points...The point you made about the testers rating the priority of bugs was an interesting one because I've known that cause conflict...
I like the style of the article, it is good, clear and straightforward. It puts the points across, and is easy to read."

Andrew Clarke

Editor

Simple Talk

Managing test data - The challenges of testing on live websites

Angelina Jolie is my customer. Tom Cruise shops at my online store. Sachin Tendulkar has often worked for me collecting meter readings. Wayne Rooney is a frequent supplier who ships my products to their destinations, taking care of fulfilment and logistics. Bill Gates features regularly as a job-hunting candidate when I am posting online jobs. Even Albert Einstein has managed some general administrative work behind the desk for me.

Before you think I am talking through my hat, allow me to tell you that these are all only “user records” in my software application testing!

For those of you who...


Read the full article in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Software Test and Quality Assurance

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1885 words
Nonfiction/Corporate
US publication

We need to talk

Formal and automated communication is usually described in the context of large, widely distributed teams made up of specialists. For many testers reality is different. I work with a small company whose development arm consists of a project manager, a tester (me) and about six programmers. This team handles all new projects. We work closely in an unstructured, informal environment to very tight deadlines.

Tight focus, tunnel vision

Earlier this year, the company was commissioned to deliver a web application. The PM and I had a meeting with the customer's representatives. We went over...


Read the full article in the October 2011 issue of Professional Tester


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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1800 words
Nonfiction/Corporate
Europe publication

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Words from the Wise

"Your wonderful writing style would be a fine asset to the magazine. Thank you for sending this: I like it very much. I remain a big fan of your writing ability and style and I want it to appear in PT very much. I want your opinions, stated in your wonderfully clear and descriptive way. I think readers will like this article. I think the article is great and will resonate with many readers. It has the weight needed to balance the last two issues where the agile and automation crews have tended to have things their own way due to HP's influence."

Edward Bishop

Editor

Professional Tester

Developing the right attitude

"A degree of tact and diplomacy is an essential tool in the tester's arsenal. A tester must be aware that his/her task is, in its baser nature, finding faults in another person's work and nobody likes that. It is important to learn how to avoid confrontational situations."

"Testers must try to make their bug reports impersonal and unbiased. Focus on reporting the bug in the most comprehensive way not on placing the blame on the developer."

Sound advice. And one that is familiar to all testers. The ubiquitous phrase of "conflict resolution" crops up regularly and often in the tester's day to...


Read the full article in the October 2011 issue of TEST Magazine


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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

2920 words
Nonfiction/Corporate
Europe publication

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Words from the Wise

"Love the feature!"

Matthew Bailey

Editor

T.E.S.T. Magazine

"I think that the topic you’ve chosen is a strong one, and your opening paragraph reflects this. It really got me excited about reading more on developer-tester conflicts and how to resolve them."

Joey McAllister

Editor

StickyMinds.com

Turning disputes into decisions

“It’s a bug!”

“No! It’s a feature!”

“C’mon, you’ve got to be kidding! How can it be a feature? It’s just wrong!”

“Rubbish! You just can’t understand it. It’s supposed to work that way!”

And so saying, my colleague in Production walks off in a huff shaking his head at my supreme ‘thickness’. I, on my part, throw my hands up in exasperation and mentally shudder at the utter lack of quality understanding that permeates through my team.

That was me, half a decade ago. I was only two years old in the corporate industry and was still finding my feet. I had idealistic views and a very black-and-white concept...

Read the full article in the 2 November 2010 issue of What's New Gram

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1000 words
Corporate/Software Testing
US publication