EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference 2013 presentation on Automation Time to Change Our Models by Iain McCowatt. See more at: http://conference.eurostarsoftwaretesting.com/past-presentations/

1. Automation:
Time to Change Our Models?
Iain McCowatt, UK
www.eurostarconferences.com
@esconfs
#esconfs

3. Blah
Blah?
Blah,
blah!

4.  Where we look
 What we notice
 How we construct understanding
Festival Spectacles

5.  Replacement
 Whole Tests
 Repeatability
 Maintainability
Flikr/jurvetson

6. An instrument

7.  Examine Exhibit A
(based on a real RFP)
 What constraints might these
introduce?
 What types of testing/tooling
might these rule out?
• Tests must be fully automated
…
• Test case identifiers must refer to the
manual test case that has been replaced
…
• All tests shall be run as part of the
automated build process
…
• Tests should remove any data generated
during the course of execution
…
• Each test must be deterministic
…
• Each test must be idempotent

8.  Rule, and tool, driven
constraints
 Goal displacement
 Homogeneity
Absorbent Minds

9.  Opposites & false
dichotomies
 Different spectacles
 Remember “why?”
 Mnemonics Festival Spectacles

10.  Analyse
 Install & Configure
 Drive
 Predict
 Observe
 Reconcile
 Evaluate

11. “Hell! There ain’t no rules
around here! We’re tryin’
to accomplish somep’n!.”
– Thomas Edison