Presentation about the testing fairy tales.

1. Testing Fairy
Tales
Joris Meerts
DEWT, 10 March 2017

2. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Contents
• Introduction
• Problem statement
• Seven manifestations
• Definitions
• Remedies

3. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Introduction
A relatively large number of publications on software
testing willingly ignore the reality of the craft.
The accounts can only refer to fantasy world, such as
Aladdin’s magic garden.

4. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
So why is this a problem?
● No progress in the field of software testing, no research, no
willingness to evaluate practice
● No attention to education, learning and skills, craftsmanship
● Reducing possibilities to discuss real testing
● Charlatans have their way
● Anyone can claim to be a tester
● Devaluation of the craft

5. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Seven manifestations
● Generalization
● Dehumanization
● Hype
● Selling out
● No rhyme or reason
● Ignorance first
● Anything goes

6. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Generalization
● Abstract concepts without
clarification
● (Normative) theory without
practice (ISO 29119)
● Description of process
without implementation
(TMap)

7. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Dehumanization
● People are cogs in a
process
● People are classified by
their roles
● People are automatons,
are thought to have
machine-like qualities

8. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Hype
● Usage of buzzwords (cloud, big data, analytics) without
clarification of those concepts
● Focus on trends in IT, not on testing
● Using popular sources (e.g. Gartner) as evidence without
verification

9. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Selling out
● Commercial considerations outweigh integrity
● Promoting and improving status of the speaker / author
● Visionary for the sake of being visionary
● Glorification of celebrity and authority

10. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
No rhyme or reason
● Hardly any use of arguments or reasoning
● Unverifiable claims
● Many logical fallacies
● No interaction, not open for questions

11. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Ignorance first
● References are not presented
● Facts are not checked
● Act as if history never happened
● Wikipedia as the single source of truth

12. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Anything goes...
● Whatever it is, it can be applied to testing
● Frequent use of metaphor
● Grab a book from Umberto Eco's Antilibrary
● Frequent use of insights from popular science

13. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Some definitions
● Fairy tale: a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings
● Fantasy: a creation of the imaginative faculty whether expressed or merely conceived
● Myth: a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone
● Folklore: an often unsupported notion, story, or saying that is widely circulate
● Quackery: an ignorant, misinformed, or dishonest practitioner of medicine
● Fraud: an act of deceiving or misrepresenting

14. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Considerations
● Is this really (such a big) problem?
● Is this about more than just looking at reality from a
different angle?
● Is there a cure?
● How does one argue about fantasy?

15. Joris Meerts - Testing Fairy Tales
DEWT, 10 March 2017
Remedies
●
Start white hat (ethical) hacking magazines
● Start a satirical ‘testing advice engine’
● Publish a ‘wall of shame’ on the internet
●
Start a fact-checking committee
●
Offer to help magazines with reviewing
● Reduce presentation formats that facilitate quacks
● Hand out buzzword bingo cards at conferences
●
Teach people about logical fallacies at conferences
●
Reward critical thinking