The document discusses the challenges and best practices of test automation design, emphasizing the importance of programming skills among testers for maintaining automated tests. It highlights common issues faced by teams, such as the creation of unmanageable automated test scripts and the need for solid design principles to improve maintainability. Additionally, it advocates for collaboration between experienced programmers and testers to enhance the design and execution of automated tests.

1. THE TESTING PLANET
July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com No: 2 £5
Yes, It’s Personal
How to build healthy relationships with different job functions and team members pages 10-11
An Introduction to
Test Automation Design
By Lisa Crispin examples of desired software be-
There’s no shortage of excel- havior. Now they’re between a rock
lent test automation tools available and a hard place: regression testing
today. Many are open source, so the manually takes too long, and so does
up-front cost is low. Some come keeping the automated tests up to
with script capture tools or mini- date as the production code changes.
IDEs that speed the learning curve. In my experience, this quandary
Many have excellent user guides, is usually the result of poor automat-
tutorials and screencasts avail- ed test design. Automated test code
able to help testers and teams learn is, well, code. It requires the same
them. thoughtful design as production
code. By applying coding principles
such as “Don’t Repeat Yourself”,
The problem anytime we need to update a test
to accommodate production code
One would think that with all changes, we only have to change
this tools and help available, test one module, class, include or macro,
automation efforts would be more perhaps only a variable value.
likely to succeed than in years past. Unfortunately, test automation
However, what I see all too often is often done by testers who don’t
are teams who had no trouble creat- have much, if any, programming
ing thousands of automated regres- experience. They may be capable
sion tests – the problem comes a of capturing scripts with a tool and
few months down the road, when replaying them, but this is only a
they spend most of their time main- way to learn a tool, not a way to
taining the automated tests. These design real tests. The programmers
testers are left with very little time on their projects may feel their job
with critical testing activities such is to write production code, not help Unfortunately, test automation is often done by testers
as exploratory testing or collaborat- with functional or GUI test automa- who don’t have much, if any, programming experience.
ing with customers up-front to get tion. So, the testers do their best, and
IN THE NEWS
Daily Testing Tips Weekend Testing fun Yes, It's Personal Context Driven Jumping Testing & Creativity
Tuesday has become one of my Weekend Testing provides the “I don't want your testers in Once upon a time, a herd of sheep The creativity is needed both when
favourite days of the week because opportunity to learn new testing meetings with my team members. were grazing in green fields in the generating test ideas outside
it’s when testers from around the approaches in a safe environment They will be disruptive and then countryside. There was a fence explicit
globe start posting their valuable away from daily work, project use information they hear to make along the field’s border to restrict requirements, and when finding the
and insightful software testing tips schedule pressures and software us look bad. Keep them away from the sheep from crossing over to the effective methods for running
on twitter. being thrown over the wall. us.” other side. important tests.
Continued Page 6 Continued Page 13 Continued Page 10 Continued Page 20 Continued Page 17

2. 2 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
end up with half a million lines with object-oriented programming. If you’re experi-
of captured scripts (yes, I know enced with these tools, you may find lots of faults with
of more than one example) that possible solutions my test code. But I wanted to demonstrate that these
are impossible to maintain. design principles work even when you’re unfamiliar
Even if teams use a frame- A simple solution is for experienced programmers to with your tool or scripting language.
work that allows non-program- pair with testers to automate tests. At minimum, teams
ming members to write tests in need to hire testers with solid code design skills to help If you want to play with similar examples, you can
plain English, a spreadsheet or the non-programmer testers. Testers need training in basic download the following:
some other non-programming design principles and patterns.
language, the test cases still need There are lots of resources to learn how to do a particu- Information and downloads to install Robot Frame-
proper design. I personally have lar type of automation, such as GUI test automation. My work:
made a terrible mess automating personal mission is to find ways to help educate testers in http://code.google.com/p/Robot Framework/wiki/
dozens of FitNesse tests where designing maintainable tests. As a start, I’d like to illus- Installation
I repeated the same steps over trate some basic design principles using examples written
and over, because I didn’t know in Robot Framework with Selenium driving GUI tests. I Robot Framework Selenium Library downloads,
at the time about the !include had not used either Robot Framework or Selenium before including the demo: http://code.google.com/p/Robot
feature of FitNesse. when I sat down to create these examples. And while I’ve Framework-seleniumlibrary/
been automating tests for a long time, I’m not too good
Look up Selenium commands here:
http://code.google.com/p/Robot Framework-seleni-
umlibrary/wiki/LibraryDocumentation
Run tests with” ./rundemo.py <test file name>”
To start the server for the app under test manually,
type “python httpserver.py start”
Example One
We’re testing account validation on a web app login
page. Our first test will open a browser, go to the main
page, and check the title. Then it will type in a correct
username and password, click login, verify that the title
is “Welcome Page”, and that the page contains the text
“Login succeeded”. (Note: I’d start even more simply
in real life – just open the browser for starters. But I
have to try to keep this article a manageable length.)
The following is from my test, which is in a .txt file
in real life (Robot Framework tests can be plain text or
HTML). The asterisks on the section names must start
in column 1. There are two spaces between the Seleni-
um keywords such as ‘input text’, and the data or argu-
ments used such as the field name ‘username_field’ and
the value ‘demo’. The “Test Cases” section includes all
our test cases. The “Settings” section allows the test to
access the correct libraries, and does tidying up.
*** Test Cases ***
Test Login
open browser http://127.0.0.1:7272 firefox
title should be Login Page
input text username_field demo
input text password_field mode
Click Button login_button
Title should be Welcome Page
Page should contain Login succeeded
*** Settings ***
AUTOMATION Library SeleniumLibrary
Test Teardown close browser
Blog post: New to Testing? : http://bit.ly/cL7P4E

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Title should be Welcome Page
Example Two
Page should contain Login succeeded
Cool, we tested that a valid username and password can log in. But we
*** Settings ***
have lots of test cases to cover. Valid and invalid combinations of user-
Library SeleniumLibrary
names and passwords, empty ones, special characters, too-long and too-
Test Teardown close browser
short ones, and more. Repeating the test above over and over with hard-
coded values would get out of control pretty quickly. Plus, we want to test
*** Variable ***
in multiple browsers and possibly test multiple servers.
${LOGIN PAGE} http://localhost:7272
When we see duplication, we always want to extract it out. Good test
${BROWSER} firefox
tools give you a way to do this. Robot Framework provides the concept
of “keywords”. For example, we can use a keyword that navigates to the
This test is still sort of end-to-end-y, in that it first does the invalid
login page, a keyword to type in the username, and so on.
case, then the valid one, then logs out. It’s a step in the right direction. If
Here’s a first step towards extracting out duplication in our simple test.
the name of the password field in the HTML changes, we only have to
We have two test cases: “invalid account”, which tests an invalid user-
change it in one place. Same thing if the text of the invalid login error
name and password and verifies the error message, and “valid account”,
message changes.
which logs in with a valid username/password combination and verifies
the landing page. We’ve put the values for browser and server into vari-
ables. We’ve defined keywords for actions such as typing in the username Example Three
and password, clicking the submit button, and verifying the messages.
It’d be nicer if we could just run the test with whatever username and
*** Test Cases *** password that we want to try, and check for the appropriate error message.
One way to do this is by passing in variable values with command line
invalid account arguments. We’ve refactored the test to expect variables to be passed in.
navigate to the login page We also separated out verifying the title and verifying the message,
type in username invalid
type in password xxx *** Test Cases ***
click submit
verify the invalid account message login account
navigate to the login page
valid account type in username ${username}
navigate to the login page type in password ${password}
type in username demo click submit
type in password mode verify the title
click submit verify the message
verify the valid account message
click logout *** Keywords ***
*** Keywords *** navigate to the login page
open browser ${LOGIN PAGE} ${BROWSER}
type in username [Arguments] ${username} title should be Login Page
input text username_field ${username} ${title} = Get Title
should start with ${title} Login
type in password [Arguments] ${password}
input text password_field ${password} type in username [Arguments] ${username}
input text username_field ${username}
navigate to the login page
log hello, world! type in password [Arguments] ${password}
open browser ${LOGIN PAGE} ${BROWSER} input text password_field ${password}
title should be Login Page
click submit
click submit Click Button login_button
Click Button login_button
click logout
click logout Click Link logout
Click Link logout
verify the title
verify the invalid account message Title should be ${title}
Title should be Error Page
Page should contain Invalid user name and/or password verify the message
Page should contain ${message}
verify the valid account message
A passing automated test does not always mean the underlying code is working. #dttip by @cowboytesting

4. 4 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
*** Settings ***
Example Four
Library SeleniumLibrary
There’s still a lot going on in one test file. It would be nice if each of
Test Teardown close browser
our keywords could be in its own little file. Good test tools allow this, and
Robot Framework’s implementation is called a ‘resource’.
*** Variable ***
For example, we could take “Navigate to login page” and put it in a
${LOGIN PAGE} http://localhost:7272
separate text file called “navigate_to_login.txt”
${BROWSER} firefox
*** Keywords ***
We can supply the variable values from the command line:
navigate to the login page
./runDemo.py --variable username:demo --variable password:mode
open browser ${LOGIN PAGE} ${BROWSER}
--variable message:‘Login Succeeded’ --variable title:’Welcome Page’
title should be Login Page
demo_test2.txt
${title} = Get Title
should start with ${title} Login
I can easily visualize cranking a lot of username, password and mes-
sage value combinations through this script. I could write a script to do
Now we can simply refer to this file whenever we want to navigate to
this so I don’t have to type them myself. My team uses a similar technique
the login page in a test. In Robot Framework, we do this in the “Settings”
to test many combinations of data values with our Watir scripts. Different
section. Notice I also added some Documentation there.
tool, same concept.
It turns out that in Robot Framework, running the test multiple times by
*** Settings ***
passing in variables from the command line would be inefficient, because
Selenium would start the browser up new each time. But this can be a
Documentation Test account validation
good approach with other tools, and works well in Robot Framework for
running the same test with different browsers (see http://robotframework-
Resource navigate_to_login.txt
seleniumlibrary.googlecode.com/hg/demo/login_tests/invalid_login.txt for
an example of this). Also, passing variables from the command line can be
*** Test Cases ***
a powerful way to leverage automated tests to set up scenarios for manual
exploratory testing.
login account
Notice that I also split out the ‘verify title’ and ‘verify message’ test
navigate to the login page
cases. That’s a personal preference; I find that if my tests are more granu-
type in username ${username}
lar, it’s easier to debug problems with the test itself. I didn’t pass in the
type in password ${password}
login page or browser values, but I could.
click submit
verify the title
verify the message
We're Hiring
Test Engineers
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Timebox the search for bugs or replicating bugs. Use heuristics to help. We can prove the existence of bugs but not their absence.
#dttip by @ThomasPonnet

5. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 5
The Keywords section looks the same as before, except with the ‘navi- because there’s a regression bug.
gate to the login page’ keyword removed. If you’ve read this far, you must be eager to learn more about test auto-
If we’re testing a web application, we’re bound to have lots of tests that mation design. Ask a programmer on your team to pair with you to automate
need to navigate to the login page. Now this functionality is encapsulated some tests, so you can learn some new techniques.
into one little file. Whenever something about navigating to the login page Work through a good book such as Everyday Scripting with Ruby by
is changed, we only need to update one file, and all the tests that use it will Brian Marick.
still be able to do the navigation. We’d want to do something similar with
the login account, so that our many GUI tests can simply include the login
search Out Blog posts and articles.
file in their Resource sections.
Dale Emery has an excellent paper on Writing Maintainable Automated
Design For Maintainability Acceptance Tests at http://dhemery.com/pdf/writing_maintainable_auto-
mated_acceptance_tests.pdf.
I’ve only scratched the surface of test automation design principles. Your team can successfully automate regression tests. You’ll need to
I didn’t even get into patterns, such as “Build-Operate-Check”, where invest some time and effort to experiment and learn the best approach. It’s
we build our test data, operate on it, verify the results, and then clean up a journey, but an enjoyable one. Once you get on the right road, you’ll have
the data so the test can be rerun. But I hope I’m getting across my point: time for the other essential testing tasks you need to create a product your
successful test automation requires good design skills, and they can be customers love.
learned without too much pain.
I’m no expert at object-oriented design. My programming experience
is in structured and interpreted languages, and with proprietary C-like test
automation tool languages. The only OO scripting I’ve done is with Ruby,
but I was able to succeed because my fellow tester was a Perl programmer about author
and all my programmer teammates are willing to help too.
I’ve shown you some simplistic examples of how I personally would Co-author with Janet Gregory,
start extracting duplication out of a test script and start forming a library _Agile Testing: A Practical Guide
of basic test modules, like navigating to the login page and login. We for Testers and Agile Teams_
could have modules for verifying HTML page titles, text, messages and (Addison-Wesley 2009)
elements, using variables for the names and values. Contributor to _Beautiful Test-
These concepts aren’t easy to learn, but the investment pays off. My ing_ (O’Reilly 2009)
team and I have spent lots of time over the years refactoring the early tests http://lisacrispin.com
I wrote in FitNesse and Canoo WebTest, because I made design mistakes @lisacrispin on Twitter
or was ignorant of the tools’ helpful features (and I had been automating
tests reasonably successfully for at least a decade prior!) As a result of
constantly learning, refactoring and improving, we’re able to automate
100% of our regression testing without a heavy maintenance burden, and
our tests have a high return on investment. When they fail, it’s usually
Getting a daily dose of
Testing Tips
By annE-MariE CharrETT I soon discovered that it’s quite
a challenge to write a daily tip in
Tuesday has become one of my less than 140 characters and so I put
favourite days of the week because a call out from volunteers. Those
it’s when testers from around the who heard the early call were Ajay
globe start posting their valuable Balamurugadas, Matt Heusser, Rob
and insightful software testing tips Lambert and Trish Khoo.
on twitter. I’m truly astounded by Many other testers offered to
the depth and quality of these tips. contribute too, so to make it fair, 4
Daily Testing Tip came about testers now contribute once a week
last year as an extension to the for six weeks.
Quick Testing Tips website which I At the moment I have the fabulous
had been contributing weekly posts Selena Delesie, Ajay Balamuruga-
to. I thought that this idea would das, Catalin Anastasoaie and Joel
work well with twitter too, and so Montvelisky contributing a tip once a
Daily Testing Tips was born. I now week. A big thanks to these testers as
have over 500 followers and that I know it can be hard work to think
number grows daily. up a tip, even if its once a week.
Blog post: Anatomy of a Good Test : http://bit.ly/dAvuhX

6. 6 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
Testing Tips
"Think of your testing notes as a Whole team, not only testers, Learn to be diplomatic, you It's not about the test, it's about
flight data recorder. We crack them needs to take resp. for quality, want the bug to be resolved, the result - seek and provide
open if something goes wrong." testing. "it takes a village". not to prove you are right. actionable, referenceable
@jbtestpilot #testing #qa #dttip #dttip by @lisacrispin #dttip by @gunjans information. #dttip by
(@lisacrispin) @bradjohnsonsv (Brad Johnson)
Hold your test and automation Instead of talking about costs in Testing ideas may come to you Sometimes you have to
code to the same standards as testing, start think about at the weirdiest times, keep a poke the code with a sharp
you hold the product code. It is investments, donʼt translate notebook handy to write them stick to find out where it bleeds.
your product. #dttip by value in cost, was it worth down & use them later. #dttip #dttip by @artofsqa (Troy
@cowboytesting investing #dttip by @JeroenRo by @joelmonte (Joel Montvelisky) Hoffman)
(Curtis Stuehrenberg) (Jeroen Rosink)
One thing that science has Automated tests should never 'Ever tried, Ever failed, No matter. Use typewith.me to collaborate with
taught us some bugs are hard be used as a show off to Try again, Fail again, Fail Better' other testers while pair testing or
to find but perseverance pays off managers. They might think it's Samuel Beckett - thought testers even with programmers, #dttip
in the end. donʼt give up. #dttip by easy and useful to automate might like it #dttip by @esconfs by @sdhanasekar (Dhanasekar S)
@mpkhosla (Mohinder Khosla) everything. #dttip by @knorrium (EuroSTAR Conferences)
(Felipe Knorr Kuhn)
#dttip the sheer repetition of Just because you've counted all the Find all users in a system, not As lastactivity for today,
automated test steps makes subtle trees doesn't mean you've seen the only the ones that people want start with a short preparation
errors more visible e.g. when the forest #dttip by @TestSideStory to know about. That includes for the next day #dttip by
system counts complex actions (Zeger Van Hese) disgruntled employee and @JeroenRo (Jeroen Rosink)
incorrectly by @chris_mcmahon hacker. #dttip by @Thomas
(Chris McMahon) Ponnet (Thomas Ponnet)
Assume nothing. Question if you want to study the "effect" If you test on Windows Vista or draw pictures of the software you
everything. Trust no one #dttip by of something, try removing it and 7 be sure to turn on the 'All are planning to test; the pictures
@cartoontester see how the system behaves CPU Meter' windows gadget. will help you think about it
#dttip by @shrinik (Shrini Kulkarni) #dttip by @can_test differently than the designer
(Paul Carvalho) did #dttip by @AlanMyrvold
(Alan Myrvold)
It’s a great experience to post a and summed up by Markus Gärtner willingness of the software testing
daily testing tip to the community in a tip the next day: community to help each other out.
and all testers are welcome to do “I think tester’s blew the weekly I’m proud to be part of that.
so. testing tip in a collaborative load Also, the beauty of #dttip is that
about author
So if there are any testers out testing session on this #dttip hashtag. your tip can really help out a tester
there who want to try their hand out All after just 3 weeks :)” anywhere in the world. An encour-
Anne-Marie Charrett is a
at writing a daily testing tip for six Tester had fun voting for their aging tip can help a tester refocus
professional software tester and
weeks, send me an email at daily- favourite tip in a poll I had on the or validate their own thoughts in a
runs her own company,Testing
testingtip@gmail.com with a short daily testing tip website but when very practical way.
Times [http://www.testingtimes.
bio indicating why you want to the tips started getting too many I I’ve collated a list of tips that for
ie/]. An electronic engineer by
contribute. It’s that easy! had to stop that. me stand out (they are in no partic-
trade, software testing chose her
I think the success of #dttip is a ular order), I’m sure you have your
when in 1990 she started confor-
demonstration of the strength and own favourites.
mance testing against European
Tag Tuesday and If you want to post a tip on Tag
standards. She was hooked and
#dttip on Twitter was an Tuesday, you will need a twitter
has been testing since then. She
idea from the wonderful account. When you write a tweet,
enjoys working with innovative
just add #dttip to it anywhere in
rosie sherry. and creative people, which has
the message. If you want to follow
led her to specialise working for
all the tips, you can either do so at
She thought it might be fun to start-ups and incubators. She’s a
http://dailytestingtip.com or use
have a day where anyone could keen blogger and hosts her own
the feed http://search.twitter.com/
share a tip on Twitter using the blog, called Maverick Tester.
search?q=%23dttip
hashtag of #dttip. [ http://mavericktester.com/]
Again, thanks to everyone who
The record so far was 117 tips in contributes to making Tag Tuesdays
one day which was truly amazing so much fun.
You know the movie Zombieland? There is a rule: Double Tap! Works for testing perfectly... by @Skarlso

7. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 7
organization where Mr. Smit- They were smart this time around
The Managing Tester ten worked was business savvy.
They decided not to hire another
manager. Their question was “Do
though. They did not ask Smitten
about the new role. They dumped
that role on him instead. Mr. Smit-
reached the office. Unlike other we really need a test manager?” ten did not get a chance to say
pariMaLa shankaraiah days, there was a flurry of activity Mr. Smitten wondered why this “No” as he was never asked in the
Once upon a time, there was in the office. Several managers were question never came up when the first place.
a man called Mr. Smitten who running around conference rooms previous manager was doing an Mr. Smitten was anointed as the
was smitten by testing. His daily with ”long” faces. outstanding job. The plan was to new lead for the test team and took
struggle to be a better tester kept The first thought that struck Smit- assign Mr. Clever as the team lead over the remnants left over by the
him alive and kicking with enthusi- ten was “Is another wicket* down?”, as he was the next most senior highly talented outgoing manager.
asm. Whenever he learnt something “Oh No! Not again”. person. Initially he only concerned himself
new and implemented it he would He then got wind that the test They thought that in addition to with filling the gaps left over by the
discover that there is still something manager had resigned for better testing, Mr. Clever would lead the previous manager. He had enough
else to learn. He understood that prospects elsewhere. The test team team for no extra cost. So he would challenges already to learn and try
“Learning is an Ocean” and started felt as if it was orphaned forever. work 150% instead of 100%. Sadly, new ideas in testing.
savoring it drop by drop even if it Here was a test manager who really Clever being very clever rejected However he now had to attend
would take a lifetime. He seemed to cared and fought for the team. He the offer outright saying he did lots of tiresome meetings, interact
be content with his learning strat- supported and protected the team not like people management. They with other managers and prepare
egy. through thick and thin and now he were disappointed with Mr. Clever reports as and when upper man-
One fine Monday morning, Mr. had quit. It was a big jolt, especially and decided not to promote him to agement told him to do so. Why?
Smitten woke up to pouring rain given the series of resignations by the next level and now placed their Because he was now a manager!
and set off to go to work. He got managers in recent history. hope on Mr. Smitten who had great Smitten thought he was helpless.
ready, beat the morning traffic and The senior management of the people and communication skills. Week 1 - 20 hours spent in meet-
18th Annual European Software Testing Conference
COPENHAGEN
20 10 DENMARK
29 November - 02 December 2010
• 5 Keynotes Keynote Speakers
• 12 Tutorials
• 46 Track Sessions Putting Tradition to the Test: The Evolving Role of the Tester
• Hands on Test Lab Antony Marcano, RiverGlide, UK
• Workshops
• Test Tools & Services Monty Python’s Flying Test Lab
Expo Rob Sabourin, AmiBug.com, Canada
• Gala Awards Night
& much more… When Passion Obscures The Facts: The Case for Evidence-Based Testing
Stuart Reid, Testing Solutions Group, UK
REGISTER ONLINE NOW
For The Love Of The Game
Dino Patti, PLAYDEAD ApS, Denmark
Session Topics Include...
Agile Testing - Automation – Test
Management – SCRUM – Test
Moving Beyond The Status Quo – Differentiating Ourselves and
Estimation – PEOPLE SKILLS Demonstrating Value
– Risk Based Testing – Mobile Bob Galen, iContact, USA
Testing – Practical Case Studies
– Building test teams - Model
Based Testing – Test Environments EuroSTAR Online Community - Access the Webinar Archive, Past Conference Materials, Testing
– Metrics – TMMI – TPI – Process Forum, Articles, Newsletter Archive & more... Interact, engage & learn from the test community.
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A developer should never test their own software." http://bit.ly/acwzK1 #SoftwareTesting by @teknologika

8. 8 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
ings, 10 hrs for reporting and 10 devote more time to his learning him? Or make him a scapegoat like personal level from each individual,
hrs for testing. There was a major related tasks. He was expected to he thought they had? their freedom is constricted due
release, so he ended up stretching know everything about anything that Would he be forced to remain in to organizational hierarchies and
on weekdays and over-stretched on every team member did. He had cur- the same role, go back to his previ- infrastructure. This in turn will
weekends. sory knowledge of most things, but ous tester role or laid off for not have profound impact on people’s
Week 2 – 15 hrs meetings, 5 hrs no deeper technical details. He did towing the company line? motivation.
reporting, 40 hrs testing (stretch- not have time to get to the technical Did Mr. Smitten do the right Passionate testers may reject
ing). level. thing? Of course he did. No matter managerial roles not because they
Week 3 – 15 hrs meetings, 5 He stopped reading technical the outcome he knew inside that he lack people skills, but because
hrs reporting, 20 hrs testing (No stuff. He stopped reading testing had stood up they don’t want
stretching). After all, no one can websites and blogs. He stopped for his pas- passionate testers may reject to be a manager.
stretch forever. writing about testing. He stopped sion. He had managerial roles not because Instead of penal-
Mr. Smitten saw his manag- exploring. He stopped fighting back. spoken out. He they lack people skills, but izing them for
ing job eating up his testing time He became disillusioned. He was had spoken the lack of managerial
because they don’t want to
which could severely impact the no longer the same man smitten by truth. skills, it would be
upcoming release. When he raised testing. He started getting a feeling Vipul be a manager. good to motivate
a red flag, the powers that be asked that he was neither a good tester nor Kocher (Co them to work on
him why he was not delegating his a good team lead. His motivation President , PureTesting) once said their technical and testing skills. In
testing work. Smitten loved to test, started to sink. “If you scare a crawling baby by fact, it’s a great investment strat-
not to manage or delegate. He was What did Mr. Smitten do? He yelling ‘walk’, ‘walk’, ‘walk’, the egy to encourage passionate testers
asked to manage fulltime which spoke to his manager the very next baby will stop crawling - forget because there are very few really
he did not enjoy. He understood day saying he couldn’t work this about walking”. This sounds so true great testers. We need more of
that management was a new arena way anymore. He was not inter- for testers. them.
for him to learn and experience, ested in a management role. He was If there are many passionate tes- How many testers have you met
but that is not where Mr. Smitten’s interested in testing which he was ters in the team who opt to test ver- who say they have ~20 plus years
passion was. His heart belonged to now unable to do. He felt that he sus managing teams, it’s not right of experience in testing alone. One,
testing. He did not love manage- was becoming a failure figure in the to force them into managerial roles two, three, ten? Just a handful. Let
ment as much as testing. team. He poured his heart out. He as a need arises. At the same time, testers grow in numbers. Let testers
Over a period of time, Mr. Smit- spoke the truth. if people are interested in manage- grow in expertise. Let’s hope for a
ten became unhappy. Though he His manager took a while to think ment, but forced to test, they may better testing world. Let’s encour-
learned to balance management about what has happened. Did they not do a good job either. Though age passionate testers.
and testing, it was hard for him to do Mr. Smitten a favor promoting such decisions have to come at a Don’t sulk as a managing tester.
Rejoice as a testing Tester!
references
Wicket is an Indian word used by
cricket fans to refer to someone
quitting the organization.
about author
Parimala Shankaraiah is one
of the co-founders of Weekend
Testing and works at Consona,
Bangalore as a senior tester in the
weekdays. She handles Public
Relations at Weekend testing. She
also co-facilitates testing ses-
sions for Bangalore chapter. She
authors a blog http://curioustester.
blogspot.com/ where she writes
about her testing experiences.
She can be contacted atparimala.
shankaraiah@gmail.com.
Don't 'spy' on your testers. Monitor their work to learn how YOU can help them perform better. by @testuff

9. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 9
Software Test Professional
I am the very model of a software Test Professional,
I've information computational, logical, informational,
I know the current thinking, and I type in codes commercial,
From COBAL to Javascript, in order categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with problems mathematical,
I boundary test equations, using latest testing oracles,
About probability distributions I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful tests for the square of the hypotenuse.
I'm very good at identifying behaviour anomalous;
My defects address issues, the sublime and the ridiculous:
In short, in testing behavioral, functional and structural,
I am the very model of a Software Test Professional,
I execute my tests, both the structured and the complete ad hoc's;
My regression is useful, I've no time for silly paradox,
I promote a mantra of stability, usability, reliability,
I know all the programs as-designed peculiarities;
I can tell minor typos from nasty bugs and show-stoppers,
I know the various moods of all of the developers!
I know all the testing tools from Quality Centre to Selenium,
The in-house, the free, the cheap and the premium.
I have worked in Agile and other testing methodologies,
And have ranted on blogs - please accept my apologies:
In short, in testing behavioural, functional and structural,
I am the very model of a Software Test Professional,
- Robert Healy
Beware the phrase "no user would ever do that". you might be missing the connection, & malicious users do strange things
on purpose. by @shadowspar

10. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 9
Rosie has a look inside Red
Gate Software
By rOsiE shErry The relaxed and fun nature of the
There was something that made images reminded me of The Soft-
me smile when I walked into Red ware Testing Club monster style im-
Gate’s offices last week. Whilst ages that we produce. I could sense
waiting in the reception area I no- some strong similarities between
ticed a great Red Gate recruitment Red Gate’s and STC’s ethos coming
poster. It was the cartoon style along.
characters that seemed to catch my
eye. The one in the Gorilla suit It was during our lunch break that
made me smile. I discovered that each of the cartoon
characters was actually a Red Gate
employee. I wondered if they had a
gorilla working for them, but alas,
no. Just someone who occasionally Gate have been advertising testing sucked into their book policy. I love
We're Hiring dresses up as one! jobs on STC with free iPads up for books! This is where anyone can
Test Engineers grabs for anyone who gets an in- order books up to the value of £100
I was at Red Gate to have a bit terview. Unfortunately they’ve run and claim the money back through
of a nose about and get a feel for out of iPads now but they’re still RedGate.
who the people behind the scenes looking for 4-5 new Test Engineers.
were. I had kept seeing Red Gate here’s the advert on their website Yes, I admit to being tempted to
appear in my interweb life. My first and here’s a page they’ve written work for them.
recollection was by ‘friending’ and about what it’s like to be a Tester
chatting about software testing with at red Gate. I’m sure there are other compa-
David atkinson - this was over nies who adopt similar work ethos.
three years ago. I then came across All these reminders of Red Google springs to mind, though
Gate’s existence had me thinking they are obviously on a much bigger
redgate The Business of software - started
by the joint CEO. I’ve been yearn- that it must be a great company to
work for. And I admit it. Whilst
scale. To me it seems an obvious
and logical work ethos to have. To
ing yearning, but unable to go to
this one. My strong interest in col- being shown around Red Gate, ca- talk about it is one thing, putting it
laboration and coworking also made sually meeting the joint CEO Neil into action deserves credit.
me aware of red Gate’s startup Davidson, drooling at the employee
incubator. And then of course, Red benefits, having lunch with other If you are in or near Cambridge
Red Gate-rs, viewing how testing is and like what we do at STC, then
engrained into their agile approach you’ll find a similar professional and
to development and their very open, work ethos to Red Gate. Do check
trusting and collaborative approach them out.
to working with people. I even got
We're Hiring
Test Engineers
Blog post: Vuvuzela Testing : http://bit.ly/dhPaBk

11. 10 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
was interested in him, his experi- not being seen as ‘just another pro-
Yes, It’s Personal ences, and his perspectives. This
helped Fred be more at ease, as I
was not attacking him or defending
grammer’... Now he was a distinct
person.
sELEna DELEsiE my position. I was just curious to
“I don’t want your testers in Foster Open
meetings with my team members.
Listen learn more about him.
Communication
They will be disruptive and then
It is easy to respond with anger Be personable
use information they hear to make People don’t usually want to work
when in a situation where you are
us look bad. Keep them away from with someone they believe to be
intentionally kept out of the loop It is difficult to maintain a hos-
us.” deceitful. It is easy to be hostile with
or unfairly blamed. Anger tends to tile relationship with someone who
Fred said this to me a week after someone who hordes information,
make situations worse though, and is friendly and sincerely interested
we started working together. We is not open to receiving feedback,
causes problems that need to be in you as a person. Building posi-
had both just joined the company, or even lies. This does not support
dealt with later on. tive relationships with colleagues
he as a programming manager, the creation of an open environment
A better approach? Take a deep makes work more enjoyable and
and myself as the test manager. I where people converse and collabo-
breath, calm down, and listen. more successful. This works only
thought our interactions had been rate freely, but encourages a lacklus-
Understanding the other person’s if you are genuine in your interac-
positive, so wondered why Fred felt tre environment of negativity.
perspective is an important first step tions, as people will sense if you
this way. Creating an environment of open
in arriving at a mutually agreeable are being deceitful.
Not wanting to make assump- communication is challenging, espe-
resolution. Allow them to share their It takes time to grow a positive
tions, I inquired, “Fred, I’m curious cially when others behave adversely,
frustration then ask them some ques- relationship from a hostile one, but
to hear about some of your experi- but someone needs to take the first
tions to learn more. Probe gently so stick with it. Working together will
ences. Have you ever been in a situ- steps and lead by example. Why not
you don’t come across aggressively. get easier, and you may even gain a
ation like the one you just referred you? It may take time for your ac-
to?” respected colleague in the process.
tions to rub off on other people, but
Looking surprised, Fred replied, For Example Some approaches include:
they will in time. Some techniques
“Um, yes. Why do you ask?” include:
... Does this situation sound • Learn more about their experiences • Smile in greeting. Say ‘Hello’,
familiar to you? Have you had by using ‘what, when, where, how,’ ‘Good Morning’, and ‘Good
• Speak openly and respectfully
difficulty gaining support from questions. This helps people open Night’. People appreciate the ges-
about what is on your mind. Share
programmers to actively participate up to a conversation. ture, and often can’t help but smile
your thoughts with others to help
in the same meetings and regularly • What expectations do they have of in return.
them see that you are not hiding
collaborate together? the test group? • Use your manners. ‘Please’, and
things from them (and you shouldn’t
Building healthy relationships is • What value do they see in the test ‘Thank You’ can make a world of
be!).
critical in producing great products. group? difference when used genuinely.
• Focus conversations about prob-
If relationships between different • How could the test group change to Let them know when you appreci-
lems on processes and projects.
job functions and team members provide more value? ate work they have done. Your co-
While many problems relate to the
are less than stellar, don’t despair. • What do they need from the test worker will be encouraged to work
people involved, a focus on ‘fixing’
There are techniques to transform group to succeed? with you, rather than against you.
them comes across as an attack. The
hostile organizations into healthy • Ask about their day or their
goal is to engage others, not stop
ones, with no management support I asked questions like these in my weekend. Show interest in their life communication.
required. situation, which showed Fred that I outside of work to start creating a • Ask for feedback and sugges-
relationship that can be built upon.
tions from other people then follow
• Take them out for coffee or lunch.
through on some that make sense to
Spend time together outside of the
implement. Others will see that you
office to strengthen the foundation
respect their opinions and trust their
for a relationship. At this point you
judgment.
may be seeing each other as real
• When problems arise, ask others
people, not just the annoying per-
if they are open to hear suggestions
son you work with!
you have. If they are, share your
• When ready, ask basic questions
ideas and suggest a trial run in im-
about their family and experiences.
plementing one. If it does not work
Most people will respond in kind.
out it can easily be re-evaluated or
At this stage you may be building a
stopped. With this approach you are
casual friendship.
asking for permission to offer advice
and proceed with a solution, rather
In my situation with Fred, I
than forcing one upon them.
made an effort to stop by and chat
with him for a few minutes every
My situation required that I first
day. While he was initially suspi-
listen to Fred to learn about why he
cious about my intentions, Fred
felt the way he did. As Fred became
soon realized that I was genuinely
more open during the course of our
interested in talking with him. He
conversation, I asked if he would
liked being treated respectfully, and
Need help testing? Check out The Crowd : http://thecrowd.softwaretestingclub.com

12. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 11
Do not become known as a gos- outlined in this paper. These are a
sip or as someone who cannot be good starting point though, and will
trusted to keep confidential infor- make a positive impact.
mation to themselves. This is one of
the easiest ways to lose trust. remember To:
• Show competence and intelli-
gence. Unfairly or not, people trust • Listen
others who show they know what • Be Personable
they are talking about in relation • Foster Open Communication
to their job. If people believe you • Employ a Whole Team Approach,
don’t have the knowledge required and
to do your job, you will be dis- • Build Trust.
missed and overlooked.
• Follow through in good faith on Working in a positive and healthy
be open to hearing some options. eryone time and reduces frustration other techniques described. environment with those around you
When he agreed I suggested that later on. is not impossible. While being an
the testers and programmers at- • Work through problems as a team, In my situation as a new test agent of change can be scary, each
tend the same meetings, but that we without placing blame. Focus on manager I purposefully continued of us has the power to create such an
would discuss and evaluate prog- finding solutions together in order to
improving my interactions with environment. It can be achieved with
ress each week. Fred agreed as he move forward. Fred and other colleagues. The sit- diligence, awareness of self and oth-
was comfortable that we would stop • Do whatever it takes as a team to
uation improved dramatically since ers, and a positive outlook.
if he was not satisfied. In the end it get it done, regardless of job title or
that first interaction in the weeks
proved to not be an issue after all, documented responsibilities. Team following. Co-workers saw that I Best of luck in creating your own
so the joint meetings and collabora- work is an important part of the job.
could be trusted to follow through success story!
tions became a regular occurrence. •Be appreciative and thankful for the
on commitments, was trustworthy
work that your teammates are doing.
in keeping confidential information
The Whole Team to myself, and proved to understand
In working with Fred, I addi-
about author
the technology and processes I was
approach tionally made a concerted effort to working with.
Selena Delesie is a consulting
change the language I used when Fred quickly became support-
Sometimes people forget that software tester and agile coach
discussing the project and problems. ive of my department and I. He
each person working on a project who runs her own company, De-
The term ‘We’ was particularly ef- and his programmers were soon
is working on the same team. It lesie Solutions. She has more than
fective as problems that arose were interacting frequently with us for
is easy to niche one another into 10 years of experience testing,
taken on collectively by the entire advice on software design, trouble-
‘’programmers’, ‘testers’, ‘project managing, and coaching in soft-
team, so no one was put on the spot. shooting issues, and processes.
managers’, etc. When that happens, Subsequently, whoever contributed Fred also became an advocate for ware, testing, and agile practices
blaming other groups for problems to a problem owned up to their mis- early involvement of the test group for leading-edge technologies. She
can quickly become the norm. facilitates the evolution of good
takes and worked with the rest of the in projects, and in needing to hire
Regardless of job title though, teams and organizations into great
team to resolve it. additional testers to keep up with
each person working on a project is ones using individualized and
the heavy workload. I was pleased
part of a larger team with the same team-based coaching and interac-
Build Trust to have not only gained a positive
end goal in mind: Release a quality tive training experiences. Selena
and healthier work environment,
product within budget that meets is co-founder and host for the
The most important factor in but also a respected colleague and
or exceeds customer expectations. Waterloo Workshops on Software
transforming a hostile environment friend.
A shift in mindset is often needed Testing, and an active speaker,
into a healthy environment is trust. participant, and leader in numerous
to work together to accomplish the
end goal using a ‘whole team ap-
Trust is the one thing that makes Conclusion industry-related conferences and
or breaks relationships or change associations. She frequently blogs
proach’. This includes:
initiatives. It is difficult to acquire Regardless of the situation you at www.SelenaDelesie.com.
and quite fragile. Some key factors find yourself in, approach it congru-
• Recognize and communicate that
to consider in building trust with any ently. There may be something go-
you are in this together – no matter
colleague: ing on for the other person that has
what!
• The ‘We’ mentality – using ‘We’ nothing to do with you. Learn what
• Do what you say you will do. It is you can by asking questions so you
instead of ‘Me’ or ‘You’. It is a
difficult to trust someone who does don’t make assumptions about in-
helpful shift in communication, and
not follow through on work they tentions or reasoning. Do your best
people will stop feeling blamed and
have committed to. to speak openly and honestly with
acting defensively.
• Build relationships. People are others, regardless of how distress-
• Understand that project and
inclined to trust people they know ing it may seem.
company success is dependent on
as a colleague, and particularly as a There are many more tech-
successful completion and delivery
friend. Keeping a distance from oth- niques for creating an environment
by everyone.
ers will impede your ability to create where testers and programmers (or
• Communicate and collaborate
a positive work environment. any other groups) collaborate and
early and often, which saves ev-
• Keep private conversations private. support one another than the ones
Tool to remember: RT @cgoldberg: Convert Web Page to PDF: http://bit.ly/RC6Fm @Oliver_NZ

13. 12 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
STC Carnival of Testers
June 2010 tester challenges to weekend testing.
By siMOn MOrLEy Tester Challenges are a great
way to exercise some key think-
TEsTEr’s aCTiViTy FrOM ing and analysis skills for testers. If
ThE BLOGOsphErE you can’t get weekend testing then
having a go at a testers challenge is
Spring - a time of renewal, re-
always worthwhile. If you haven’t
birth and other re- words... Well,
seen them then it’s worth looking at
spring 2010 (in the northern hemi-
these challenges, there’s something
sphere) has been eventful, diverse
to learn in all of them.
and - in the words of Steve ‘Inter-
esting’ Davis - interesting!
Pradeep Soundararajan made
a write-up of his “Finding Nemo” Different aspects and angles
Let’s have a look at some of the around QA were written about but Leftfield
challenge; http://bit.ly/9OTpLf
topics that have been discussed in Michael Bolton’s post was the most
the last 4 months. Analogy is ever-popular amongst
Markus Gärtner used both smurfs; comprehensive. testing bloggers. It’s helps to clarify
http://bit.ly/abxs9P and a maths http://bit.ly/cpLeO2
(sometimes) and contrast.
hot Topics proof as subjects for challenges;
http://bit.ly/clL1B7 Toyota’s brake-related problems
were put into a software testing Babies and Software Testing was
Spring being a time when things the subject of Elizabeth Fiennes’
warm up... Let’s look at some Lynn McKee has produced a context by James Bach, here.
http://bit.ly/bgYfWP writing, http://bit.ly/9DSUcv
“warm” topics... range of puzzles from different
sources; http://bit.ly/9YOHX1 When was the last time someone
Reviewing Cem Kaner’s de-
Volcanos scription of a good test case was a called you a muppet (in a nice way?)
Lannette Creamer used Star Trek No? Well, Jared Quinert provides
as a base for the challenge and write- subject of one of Rikard Edgren’s a guide on muppet related testers,
On the lava end of the scale... posts. http://bit.ly/bvbmTU
up. http://bit.ly/aQKLs1
The general disruption caused by
the unpronounceable volcano doing
unpredictable things to an unpre-
A challenge in a bookshop? Pari- new pens Other groupings of testers were
mala Shankaraiah wrote about it, and given the Animal Kingdom slant by
pared European airspace was a
lessons for testing; New bloggers appeared in the Simon Morley. http://bit.ly/bAuSyr
“warm” topic in April. It triggered
http://bit.ly/d6fKOZ past few months. Here’s a selection.
some systems thinking from Zeger
Van Hese: http://bit.ly/awLJRJ, The near-obligatory Monty Py-
The #parkcalc topic generated a January saw Thomas Ponnet thon reference (by Phil Kirkham) is
re-arranged schedules for Lisa
lot of interest in the twitterverse as start some intelligent blogging. a good way to round off this look
Crispin: http://bit.ly/9a59Lm and
well as blogosphere. Matt Heusser http://bit.ly/5XE5Zr back over the last few months.
the opportunity for Rob Lambert
wrote a review of the challenge and http://bit.ly/9RIfqQ
http://bit.ly/d9RoJs to attend the
reaction; http://bit.ly/9v73SN Another January new pen was
hastily arranged OpenVolcano
event. Markus Deibel, with some good
Weekend Testing continued its reports on his weekend testing in-
march round the world by starting an volvement. http://bit.ly/5A1cVM about author
Certification ANZ grouping/chapter. Could it be
Africa next? http://bit.ly/aIL4qf Simon Morley posts the Carnival
Selenium was the trigger for
This topic got warm in May. Of Testers on his blog here:
Felipe Knorr Kuhn to start his blog
A range of views and discussion http://bit.ly/96ww51
smorgåsbord in May. http://bit.ly/bDIx4d
was represented on a number of
sites. The discussion-and-comment The analytic approach shines
A whole range of other testing
“warm” posts were by James Bach; through in James Christie’s
topics were up for discussion.
http://bit.ly/cYojkN Simon Morley; blog which started in March.
http://bit.ly/cYojkN Nathalie de Vr- http://bit.ly/bdmXJJ
A desire that testers shouldn’t be
ies; http://bit.ly/cPDWTG and Dave
sheep was put forward by Rob Lam-
Whalen; http://bit.ly/chtOcB March and April also saw Ann
bert, http://bit.ly/cSDw8e
Flismark, http://bit.ly/ap5b19
popular Ever wondered what Black-Viper Tim Riley http://bit.ly/cXLShz
Testing is? Then check out Pradeep & Kenneth Hastings dipping
Some topics have been fun & Soundararajan’s post. their toes in the blogging water.
popular during this period - from http://bit.ly/aM3kbN http://bit.ly/aVC7QM www.softwaretestingclub.com
Set measurable/achievable goals around reducing test creation time and increasing test execution time @bradjohnsonsv

14. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 13
Test Engineers and
Development Engineers
on the Same Agile Team
The answers came from adopting
By Liz rOBErTsOn a more holistic approach to the over-
all software development process
When my organization rolled out
that starts to blur the lines between
an agile approach across the whole
what a developer and a tester con-
French
Edition
Time
company, we wanted to embrace
OF
Histor
Brief Y
a
tribute to a team.
all the agile best practices, includ-
Practices such as test-driven
ing having each agile team “own”
development and unit testing put
Over the Weekend
all operations related to completing
more testing responsibility into the
what they planned for each itera-
hands of developers. Expectations
tion (including all the testing tasks).
Testing became fun
from testers on an agile team include
For many of the staff, this was the
working closely with individuals
first time that developers and testers
representing the business and with
again
were on the same functional team.
developers to formulate test cases,
It became apparent that at least in
either manual or automated, which
some of the teams the old distinc-
often requires a more in-depth tech- Possible missions include finding
tions and attitudes between separat-
nical knowledge compared to what
ing between these two roles were By anna Baik anD MarkUs bugs, evaluating a new test tool, as
may have been expected from these well as generating test ideas around
still in place. GärTnEr
same testers in the past. a given application. Testers often
Given that developers outnum-
Clearly the role of the software Weekend Testing provides the
bered testers on the teams, it was begin by testing the mission itself,
tester is changing rapidly. As teams opportunity to learn new testing
often the scenario that stories that by asking questions regarding the
adopt more agile processes, as auto- approaches in a safe environment
were development-complete and mission to narrow it down, or to
mation plays a greater role in testing, away from daily work, project
waiting for verification would re-phrase the mission completely -
and as flexibility and adaptability schedule pressures and software
pile up in an iteration, leaving the they’re wise to do so, as sometimes
are ever more important the expecta- being thrown over the wall. Since
testers scrambling in the final days the mission may contain traps for the
tion of the software tester has shifted participation is on a volunteer
of the iteration to verify and get unwary and unquestioning.
from a functional expert who is good basis, people feel highly-motivated
each story to a “done” status. It The session format is a text chat,
at “breaking stuff” to a seasoned and eager to learn something new.
was suggested by agile coaches though participants who’ve decided
technical professional who can pro- This article introduces the concept
that in these cases the entire team to pair up to attack the mission often
vide a myriad of services on a cross around Weekend Testing, accompa-
should commit to getting stories to choose to collaborate, and may use
functional team to ensure a more nied with comments from the first
done status, and therefore any team voice chat on a back channel for this.
consistent and high quality output. Weekend Testing sessions.
member should help get the stories Weekend Testing participants may
completed, meaning that sometimes partition the work among the whole
about author What is Weekend Testing? group, or pair with other partici-
developers could test stories (as
long as it wasn’t one that they had pants. Being able to test with other
Liz Robertson is a Quality Engi- People might argue ”weekends,
developed). people is fun, especially for testers
neering Manager for Orbitz World- isn’t that supposed to be quality
This is where previously held who are the sole tester in their team
wide based in Chicago, IL. Her cur- time away from work?” – I admit
attitudes about the distinction or company.
rent focus is on test automation and that this thought crossed my mind
between developers and testers The overall session is divided
performance testing, and has been too. I now realize that this *is*
kicked-in. Was it “beneath” a de- into two major parts. While the first
involved with agile development and quality time, and far away from
veloper to do testing tasks? Was it part is spent on testing the product
testing teams for the last 5 years. work as well. Quality learning time. according to the provided mission,
a good use of his/her time?
- Zeger van Hese in the second half of the session
Weekend Testing is a time- participants share their experiences
boxed, collaborative testing session with their individual testing in a full
over the Internet following a pro- hour of discussion. Beneath testing
vided mission. Sounds very easy. traps and bugs, the discussion on
Well, it is easy. The session facilita- individual learning experiences, test-
tor leads the session and provides ing approaches and mistakes as well
the product and the mission. The as tools and techniques are revealed
participants then start to test the and discussed. Each participant
product according to the mission is asked to reflect over the course
and report their findings back into a of their testing. The professional
public bug tracking system. exchange during this part is one of
"Rotate" testers to different projects/products once in a while. It refresh theirs perspective and that of the whole team.
@joelmonte

15. 14 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
chat window popping up each time
a participant raises a question in the
group chat. Conversely, some fall for
the trap of ignoring the discussion
and questions asked by other session
members, thus missing out on useful
information. Another trap may be
that testers decide to work alone in-
stead of pairing up with other testers.
This list may sound familiar.
Indeed, these traps are very common
for software testers. In our compa-
nies we get testing missions like
“test this” and while we feel under
pressure we jump straight in without
stopping to question further how
the reporting of the test results will
take place or what the main focus of
the testing activities will be. Testers
who have participated in Weekend
Testing are building an awareness of
such traps and often take this back to
their workplace.
Interestingly, most of the time
testers create these traps for them-
selves and fall diligently into them.
So, participating in a Weekend Test-
ing session may help overcome your
own self-blindness to these traps.
Discussion
I liked this a lot, as normally I
work alone, so I guess this is the
the biggest benefits for each tester FCC CUTS VIDS[1]. closest I get to working in a team
participating. Each participant takes environment. - Anne-Marie Charrett
away great lessons from the inter-
Watch Out For Traps
What To Test During the discussion and debrief
national mix of testers involved. part of the session, each participant
...it was simply a lot of fun to
So I am totally sold on the Week- takes turns to answer questions on
be interacting with other testers
Testing The product end Testing concept. Great way to their experiences while testing the
and finding out how they had
try out and learn new approaches [...] product. The facilitator will ask the
approached the tasks and their
... I will say it’s the perfect anti- and great discussions with fellow testers questions to enable self-
thoughts on it afterwards. - Phil
dote to 6+ months of project death testers - Phil Kirkham reflection. While this may sound
Kirkham
march. Testing is fun again! - Anna Collaboratively testing on the odd, the debrief of the session is the
Think about the last trap you
Baik weekend over the Internet leaves most valuable part of the overall
fell into at work - wouldn’t it have
When participants start testing, little room regarding the products two hours. During this part partici-
been better to find that trap when
some may choose to keep a watch to test. So far, we have tested web pants share their experiences, what
your boss wasn’t looking at you?
on the discussion to see clarify- applications, which are accessible problems they run into, reflect over
Weekend Testing sessions can make
ing questions asked to the session to everyone around the globe, and the traps they fell for, and exchange
you aware of traps, so that you can
facilitators, or to ask them on their open-source applications which may thoughts and solutions collabora-
avoid them gracefully at work.
own. On occasion, the product be used on different platforms. Fre- tively. Often, each tester may have
Over the course of the first half
developers or representatives may eMind, Google Calendar, bingMaps, come up with an entirely different
of the session participants fall into
be available in the chat to answer TinyUrl, and WikiOnAStick are just approach to everyone else. This can
many traps - just as in their day-
questions about the product, and some of the example applications help other testers to learn about new
to-day work. Some fall for the trap
what information they’d like to we examined. The session and bug ways and ideas for their daily work.
of starting testing before the mis-
know about it. Most of the time, the reports from individual testers are In such a deliberate learning envi-
sion was clarified or refined. Some
participants remain silent indicat- publicly accessible, so the product ronment each participant gets a lot of
give in to the pressure of the single
ing they’re busy testing. Over the owners can take great value from the practical knowledge. While working
hour they have for testing - thereby
course of the first few sessions tested applications as well. on the weekends may sound odd,
short-cutting either the mission
there have been missions as vague testers are challenged to learn about
or even the result reporting in the
as “test this” up to following a new domains, new testing approach-
end. Some fall for the trap of the
particular set of test heuristics like es and to share and reflect their
constant distractions caused by the
experiences with other testers around
I learned LOADS from a DB walk through session the other day by the devs. Why not organize something similar with your team?
@Rob_Lambert

16. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 15
the globe. Testers get to try new ap- were like meeting the elves and fair- ences, tester groups or [European about author
proaches that they don’t work with ies responsible for keeping the world Weekend Testers] EWT. In my
in their daily work. In fact, Week- spinning. There’s something enrich- book it’s an important part of why Markus Gärtner is a software
end Testing provides self-education ing and soulful watching testers I do my job, to learn, confirm as- tester since 4 years from Germany
for testers far beyond classroom- practicing testcraft while testers in sumptions and things we believe to Personally committed to Agile
based certification courses. US time zones are asleep. The testers be true. Another important point for methods, he believes in continuous
I had the pleasure of interacting with EWT is that at the weekend ses- improvement in software testing
in these sessions were indeed magi- sions people may make mistakes.
Global Exchange through skills. Markus presents
cal in terms of their enthusiasm and The only thing that happens when at Agile and testing conferences,
energy for a profession focused on they do is to learn from it and get blogs at http://blog.shino.de and
I also look at all the participants
critique. encouragement from the group as is a black-belt in the Miagi-Do
here and think ‘I’m not worthy!
many people will have done the school of software testing, and a
These people are all so accom-
same ones themselves.
plished!’ Then I think ‘great, what anne-Marie Charrett co-founder of the European chapter
When I started with EWT I of Weekend Testing.
good company to learn a lot in’. -
participated only. I’m now mod-
Anna Baik If you want a taste at test manage-
erating as well which has its own
Though the sessions are run by ment, or you want to improve your
challenges and learning curves. It’s
local chapters - as of this writing management skills, I would recom-
we have Mumbai, Europe, Ban- mend anyone volunteering to facili-
fantastic to observe, from a test about author
managers perspective, what works
galore, Australia/NZ, Hyderabad, tate a weekend testers session. You
in a group and what doesn’t. EWT Before testing, Anna Baik
and Chennai - testers globally learn a lot about yourself & testing
is not only great if you want to taught telepathy to telephonists,
are invited to participate in every when you attend a weekend session,
learn about software testing but also teaching people how to figure out
Weekend Testing session around but when you facilitate a test session
how to teach effectively, how to how to ask their customers the
the globe. Every tester participating you get to work on those manage-
steer a discussion and much more. right questions, and how to re-
thereby has the opportunity to learn ment and soft skills that every test
Some great people gave up their ally listen to what they said - and
from basically everyone. Since in manager needs. Some of the chal-
spare time to help me in the past didn’t say. She then got a job
the second hour experiences are lenges include, creating an idea for
so it feels good to give something in application support, and was
shared in the discussion, Weekend a session, sourcing software for the
back now. I might not be there drafted into testing from there.
Testing provides a learning envi- session, planning the scope and the
every week as my son wants a part When she realised testing was
ronment beyond traditional class- purpose of the session. On the day,
of me as well. But I’ll make sure about asking the right questions,
room courses. A typical Weekend you get to practice your communica-
to participate and teach and learn and seeing what isn’t there, she
Testing session lasts just two hours, tion and leaderships skills. So, if you
whenever I can. was hooked. She blogs occasion-
while providing the benefit of glob- want to improve your skills fur-
ally exchanging thoughts with some ther, why not take the next step and ally at the Software Testing Club,
really great testers. volunteer to run a weekend tester references and tweets as TesterAB. She and
session? Markus co-founded the Europe
[1] FCC CUTS VIDS heuristic chapter of Weekend Testing.
Guest Facilitators On
http://bit.ly/9ezwWZ
Weekend Testing Thomas ponnet
Making time for testing at the
Over the course of the last year,
weekend is not always easy to do.
Weekend Testing has gained the
When my wife asked me “Why are
attention of some great testers and
you so keen to test again this Satur-
test consultants all over the planet.
day?” I actually had to think about
We were happy to bring in guest
that. I knew deep down that it was
facilitators into the sessions. Here
the right thing to do. What I said,
are some of the experiences with
PractiTest
after some consideration, is that
Weekend Testing they made.
many testers in their day jobs have
less than ideal environments when it
Jon Bach comes to learning their craft. They
might read or hear about something
I was invited to be part of two but can’t try it as it might endanger Better QA Management
WT sessions (sessions 32 and 33) their project, or so people believe.
recently via Skype -- each starting The Weekend Testing group is a Free 30-Day Trial
at 2:30 AM Seattle time. With the safe environment where testers can
house dark and quiet, the glow from try out new ideas, talk about testing
my laptop was like a cup of ruve- with peers and like minded people at
nating coffee for me. It was a warm their level of experience. This is very
window into what I found to be a important as often that is not pos-
collaborative, professional and wel- sible in their day jobs.
www.practitest.com
coming enclave of testers. The folks I feel that I re-discover my en-
who volunteer their time to hunt for thusiasm for testing whenever I’m
problems and share testing tricks talking with peers, be it at confer-
Your brain also requires a reboot every now and then. Don't take long testing runs without a rest or they won't be so productive.
@knorrium

17. 16 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
Why Testers Should
Care About Static
Analysis
By anDrEW yanG anD actors
FLash shEriDan
Static source code analysis Who gets involved in static analy-
(“static analysis” for short) tools sis? Usually architects and program-
have been around for a long time. mers are the drivers for getting a
Nearly everyone has heard of Lint, static analysis tool. They realize
a program from the 1970’s, which that finding problems while they are
flags potential problems in source coding is the least expensive way to
code, along with a large number improve quality and security. In an
of non-problems. Static analysis organization large enough to have
tools advanced far beyond Lint in a tools team, it may end up owning
the past decade. Modern day static the implementation and maintenance
analysis tools perform sophisticated of the tool. Other groups like central
data and path analysis across func- security or governance may play a
tions and can detect problems with role. Testing should play a pivotal role: defining and helping to en- forbidding programmers to mark de-
far more accuracy and depth than role but usually does not. force the goals for static analysis. fects as false positives, or forbidding
traditional tools. Must all static analysis defects be (or even delaying) configuration
Organizations intent on improv- fixed before release? Should “no changes to eliminate them, will bring
Why Testers need To Care new defects” be the goal? What the static analysis tool into disrepute.
ing their software have embraced
static analysis as an important part are the priorities for each defect It can even make the code worse, by
Testers should be involved in category — should all crashing forcing an inexperienced program-
of the software development pro-
and help to drive quality and secu- bugs, overflows, memory leaks, and mer to change code in a hurry mere-
cess. Spurred on by the increase in
rity throughout the entire software uninitialized data be fixed but other, ly to silence the tool. Any genuine
popularity of Agile Development,
development lifecycle. Gone are the lower priority, categories like dead solution will require judgment and
the increasingly visible costs of
days where the tester’s sole role is to code be handled later? prioritization of individual defects,
software failure, and other trends,
do the last minute testing just before In an organization large enough which is a matter for testing to drive
software development organizations
release. to have a software engineering or to resolution. It may not be neces-
are automating their testing pro-
Testers serve as a strong coun- tools development group, one or sary for testers to review all alleged
cesses and finding and fixing errors
terpoint to programmers, creating a the other will generally be in charge false positives, but at a minimum,
and security violations earlier.
healthy dynamic towards improving of deploying and running static the definition of what is acceptable
Static analysis finds defects by
quality and security. As the part of analysis tools. This is natural for and how it will be assured must be
analyzing source code without run-
the organization focused primarily the deployment phase for the tool; made.
ning it. No test cases are required
on software quality, testing’s role is but once the tool is successfully Improving software development
and a good static analysis tool like
to ensure that quality standards, and deployed, the goal changes, and quality early in the process means
Klocwork or Coverity can analyze
not merely the smooth running of the testers need to play a larger role. that testers are testing better soft-
large numbers of logical paths in
tool, are actually achieved. The software engineering group is ware. Fixing the problems sooner
the code to find plenty of serious
One of the most important roles primarily interested in developing helps testers focus on more func-
bugs. Static analysis tools don’t
in any static analysis initiative is code, and the tools group in having tional testing, where they can add
even need fully working software
finding the person or department that the tool run smoothly in accordance significantly more value.
to operate, allowing programmers
actually cares that the right defects with a clearly defined procedure.
to use it from the early stages of
are getting fixed. Quite frequently, Both attitudes conflict with the goal
coding. Feedback is quick and how Can Testers
without the right processes and of finding bugs and getting them
errors are reported pointing to the
advocacy, the tool becomes limited fixed. Bugs are unpredictable and Get involved?
specific line of code where the
in its use. For instance, develop- messy, and finding them without
potential bug is, making it easier
ers who are in charge of prioritizing getting inundated with false posi- Test teams now require more
for programmers to fix. If a bug is
their own defects may incorrectly tives requires flexibility and judg- skills — they need skills in security
found by static analysis rather than
mark genuine bugs as false positives. ment rather than adherence to a processes, automation, and even in
testing, it saves almost all of the
Programmers have a lot on their predefined procedure. programming. Testers should under-
programmer’s time in isolating and
plates and taking the time to review As an example, the problem stand static analysis technology and
diagnosing the problem, and all of
the problems accurately naturally mentioned above, of program- the benefits it can provide. With this
the tester’s time in reproducing and
becomes de-prioritized. Checks and mers incorrectly marking their knowledge, testers can work with
reporting it, increasing the produc-
balances are needed. own defects as false positives, has other stakeholders to obtain buy-in
tivity of both.
Testers can play an important no simple procedural fix. Simply that it will benefit a larger quality
The real danger isn't that computers will begin 2 think like men but that men will begin 2 think like computers.
~SydneyHarr… @AGareev

18. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 17
and security goal.
Testers need to view quality as about author
a whole, which includes building
quality and security into the soft- Andrew Yang and Flash Sheri-
ware development process. Test dan are consultants with Code
teams can help define reasonable Integrity Solutions (http://www.
acceptance criteria and work with codeintegritysolutions.com), a
development and management professional services firm fo-
teams to create the right processes cused on static analysis and
and infrastructure to support the ef- software development infrastruc-
fective use of the tool. When prop- ture. Code Integrity Solutions
the requirements to “what’s impor-
erly implemented, static analysis helps leading companies greatly Count On serendipity
tant”, and to do it in an effective
will result in big gains in productiv- improve the quality and secu-
way.
ity as well as quality. rity of their code. Andrew and You will find the best things when
Testers can combine knowledge
Flash can be reached at andy@ looking for something else; execute
from a variety of models, from the
codeintegritysolutions.com and two different tests at the same time,
product’s history, from the tech-
flash@codeintegritysolutions.com. and explore the areas in between
nologies in use, from software
testing itself, from actual usage (or Keep all your senses wide open!
Testing & Creativity stories thereof), from the context of
the project, by conversations with
different people, and by using their
Learn a Lot, and Combine
things that are easily expressible in own skills. Disparate knowledge
By rikarD EDGrEn written format. The implicit require- We can’t find every bug, but we
ments, things that a user would want, can aim to find all bugs that are Creativity never comes out of the
I think I love software testing blue; it is most often a new combina-
are not included here. important.
because it involves such a great tion of existing things.
The blue area is all possible us-
deal of creativity - “the process Ergo; learn more different things,
age and errors, which in reality is an
of having new ideas that provide Cheating With Creativity and combine them in fruitful ways.
infinite area.
value”. Sir Ken Robinson. [http:// Steal, combine and adjust two
But we’re lucky! The area for
www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_ Since each project is unique, I
important things isn’t that wide, and well-known concepts and invent
says_schools_kill_creativity.html] can’t give you any secret methods
we can perform sample tests (sym- your own method.
The creativity is needed both of how you can create low-hanging
bolized by dashes.)
when generating test ideas outside fruit with ingenious test ideas and
The samples doesn’t cover ev-
explicit requirements, and when approaches. Use Creativity Techniques
erything, but if a skilled tester looks
finding the effective methods for But I can give you some hints on
at what’s happening, there is a great
running important tests. cheating: There are many ways to stimulate
chance that they will discover impor-
I’d like to explain this by visu- creativity, e.g. brainstorming, pro-
tant issues in nearby areas (this is the
alizing software in the form of a po- allow Creativity and The vocative operators, mind mapping,
everyday serendipity of the software
tato The square is the requirements pair testing…
tester.) Mistakes That Go along
document, which covers important My favorite is “the opposite
Creativity is needed to go from
With it method”; thinking about things like
“How can our software be as bad as
Try many approaches, and cheat possible” (Can’t start it; Can’t Install
by letting there be some waste in it; Can’t Find it) has a good chance
your test efforts. Try rotating a of generating insight of what is re-
“free role” within the team. You ally important.
will make up for it, eventually. Creativity is not a gift, but rather
Have a diversified team, and let the result of discipline and patience
people collaborate and inspire each together with an open and curious
other. Trust the tester’s intelligence. mind.
Everyone is creative. Find your
creative thinking and set it free.
Use Check Lists
and Cheat sheets
Your own list is the best, but as
inspiration, search for “Test Heu- about author
ristics Cheat Sheet”, “Exploratory
Testing Dynamics” or “Software Rikard Edgren, tester at TIBCO
Quality Characteristics” Spotfire, blogger at thetesteye.com
Get inspired by solutions and
bugs for similar, and radically dif-
ferent, projects.
Eat lunch with your developers -- they'll talk about changes they've forgotten to tell you about. @jbaibel

19. 18 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
Black Box Software Testing
in the quality, breadth of applicabil-
By sCOTT BarBEr ity, and effectiveness of their train-
Depending on what research you ing. When taken together, it is clear
trust, there are between 4 and 14 to me that testers should have more
million people currently employed access to high quality, affordable,
in the areas of software quality or broadly applicable, and reference-
software testing worldwide. I like able education and training.
to say “about 10 million”. Of them Over the last 3 years the Asso-
only a tiny percentage, I estimate ciation for Software Testing (AST)
in the neighborhood of 1%, receive has been piloting a new way to
any reference-able training, profes- deliver education and training to
sional development, or education testers that we refer to as the BBST
specific to testing software each program. I’m sure that many of
year. If total book sales are a fair you have at least stumbled across
indicator, fewer than 10% those something about this program in the
employed in software quality or blogsphere, but I’d like to take a few
software testing own a book di- minutes of your time to share some
rectly related to their job. With things about it that you probably
numbers like this, it’s no wonder don’t already know.
that many people feel like educa- Understand that my intent is
tion and training in the field is, shall not to “sell” you on this program
we say, lacking. (though I would be pleased if after the education and training that complementary course evaluations,
And what about the quality reading this at least some of you should be available to all testers. but I’ve never seen the words “…
or effectiveness of this existing decided to take one or more of the Also understand that it’s not learn more than I thought I could.”
education and training? We know courses). My intent is to share with my intent to discuss the quality of I struggle to think of higher praise.
that the majority of the available you what I believe is the best cur- the content of this, or any other, It’s my opinion that this kind of
education and training is delivered rently implementable model that I course. While I believe that quality praise is only possible because of
by tool, certification, and training am aware of to better educate more education and training begins with this program’s unique variety of
vendors who, appropriately, are as testers at all stages of their career quality content, I also believe that teaching, learning, and experienc-
interested in promoting their prod- and to raise your expectations about it takes more than just content for ing methods employed during each
ucts and earning a profit as they are people to learn effectively. What I course. The following description
am discussing is how a particular of the program comes from the latest
delivery format is being shown to status report to the National Science
be more effective, particularly for Foundation:
working testers seeking profes- “Each of the AST courses is a
sional development, that either fully-online course taught over four
university or commercial formats weeks. The first three weeks use a
you may be familiar with. In fact, collection of videos, readings, online
the content that is currently avail- activities, reflections, and quiz-
able through the BBST program has zes to present course materials. In
been, and continues to be, delivered the fourth week, students turn their
in both university and commercial attention to writing a final exam,
formats, and that is part of how peer reviewing another student’s
the effectiveness of this format has exam, and completing the course
been assessed. But don’t take my evaluation. In addition to the formal
word for it, read what this student instructional delivery, we provide
had to say in the mandatory, but online space for student study ef-
anonymous, post-course evaluation forts (asking for help, discussing
survey: quiz results, and preparing for the
“This was a terrific experience. final exam) and social space to meet
I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot. their peers and share non-course
I got to be around diverse testers related information regarding jobs,
from diverse backgrounds who promotions, new babies, and links to
came in from all over the world. I interesting current events. For more
had some really knowledgeable tes- details, please refer to the complete
ters give me advice and correct me, paper at http://bit.ly/cYIGwg.
which made me learn more than I Assignments are due twice a
thought I could.” week, on Wednesday and Saturday.
I’ve delivered a lot of training in Over a 4 week period successful
my career, and read a lot of highly students spend 32 hrs or more per-
use personas, aligned with the sequence in which they'll do things in the app, to think of scenarios to explore and test.
(#notnew) @lisacrispin

20. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 19
forming all of the activities above tor assessment. In the words of differentiates it from commercial welcome to use the same materials
at a time when it’s best for them. another student: courses. I’m only slightly kid- to conduct their own training, with
Unlike a 5 day face-to-face class “In my opinion, the 4-week long ding. The format also challenges proper attribution, of course. This
that also provides approximately 32 online course was a systematic the participants writing skills when might not make a big difference
hours of interaction with the mate- journey towards learning a few core answering and reviewing other to students while they are taking
rial, this format allows students to fundamentals of software testing. In students’ work. This is a skill that the course, but I know that when I
“pause, rewind, play, and replay” addition, it helped me build a practi- I find more and more important in started filling lead and management
at will to work around distrac- cal approach to look at test strate- the relevant professional world.” roles, I found myself wishing that I
tions, to take some time to absorb gies, testing mission and oracles, This student was particularly had access to materials from courses
concepts, and to discuss the mate- and how the mission is dependent impressed by the value of learning I’d taken years before to help me
rial with their peers, instructors, on context. This journey was very in an environment where they can train my staff. I also know that
and co-workers at their own rate. effective because it was based on interact with a diverse peer group: even when I knew people who were
Students don’t have to worry about cognitive learning -- due to which “One of the best things about willing to pull strings on my behalf,
having their questions “tabled” the knowledge could be applied and this class was never once
because they don’t fit in the course used in new situations while thinking the peer reviews This course forces the was I suc-
schedule. Students can even “test” about new challenges. I think that and being able participants to think. That im- cessful in
the material as they go at their this was the epitome of this online to work with mediately differentiates it from getting my
workplace instead of having to wait training program.” people on the hands on
commercial courses
until after the course is over and the It is the diversity of methods that assignment. It anything
instructor is gone to figure out what enables courses in this program to was amazing to more than
implementation challenges they are focus on problem solving and deci- me how relatively simple it actually the slide deck.
up against. sion making while introducing the was. People were civil and kind, Did I mention the pricing? AST
Other things that distinguish student to new material rather than and yet could assess your work offers Foundations free members and
these courses from other formats simply presenting disembodied pro- and be honest. I really loved being charges $200 for members ($300 for
with a similar number of hours of cedures to accomplish specific tasks around other software testers who non-members) for advanced courses.
interaction is that in addition to that may or may not turn out to be at really love what they are doing.” I think you’d agree that compared
video lectures, readings and discus- all applicable when you get back to The following students draw to most reference-able training
sions, it has individual and group the office, or as this student writes: comparisons to other training they available today that this qualifies as
exercises, welcomes discussion of “This course forces the partici- have received: affordable.
diverse experiences and opinions, pants to think. That immediately “This course was more intense 163 students have successfully
and employs self, peer, and instruc- and made more sense than {certi- completed the first course in the
fication} (which I have done) - its series (Foundations) as of June 1,
more in depth and had me thinking 2010, and 48 have completed the
at a different level. I have identified second (Bug Advocacy) with more
Association for some of my weaknesses and will be classes currently in session. There
Software working on them. The BEST course are a number of new courses in
Testing
ast
I have taken on software testing - active development, a growing
period!” number of trained instructors, and
“I have taken a number of com- growing interest from potential
mercial courses and they gloss over delivery partners. The next face
a lot of what I have learnt in the last to face version of the instructor’s
4 weeks. BBST is worth more than course (open to anyone who has
the {deleted} certificate I have in completed one BBST course) will
my possession!” be held on August 5, 2010 in Grand
“I feel you need only one skill to Rapids, MI, USA for a mere $100
clear commercial exams, that is to ($50 for AST members) on the day
memorize and deliver. University following AST’s annual conference,
exams, though, depended much on (see http://www.CAST2010.org for
memorizing. They had labs, group more information). Those numbers
discussions, and assignments, certainly don’t put much of a dent in
which was more challenging and millions of testers who didn’t receive
helped [me] to learn, but I some- any training last year, but it’s a start.
what felt the application was miss- And the numbers are growing. For
ing, which was addressed in this more information visit the links
course. The examples discussed, below:
peer reviews and the orientation AST’s delivery of BBST Courses:
exercises were fantastic in BBST http://bit.ly/1a5nMj
and I feel all these are missing in BBST Instructor Training:
the university syllabus.” http://bit.ly/awZ0r5
www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org As an added benefit, all of the Course Materials:
BBST course materials are pub- http://bit.ly/1KijAa
lished under a Creative Common’s
License, meaning that anyone is
Blog post: Will A Bug Destroy Civilization? : http://bit.ly/9NhvjI

21. 20 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
Whatever you may think about education in our field is going to get
AST’s program, I ask you to put the better on its own. I believe that it is
training model to the test against going to take testers and their em-
your own training experiences, then ployers demanding something better
ask yourself the following ques- and rejecting training that isn’t meet-
tions: ing their needs or isn’t cost effective
• Why it is that most software before we see widespread improve-
testers don’t receive any training at ment. I believe that better and more
all each year when more and more accessible training is one thing that
fields all the time require people to testers can actually unify over.
complete some form of professional As a field, we may never agree on
development annually? what a test case should include, what
• Why it is that so much of the percentage of tests should be auto-
training available for software mated, or how many testers per de-
testers is reported to be “not use- veloper is ideal, but I see no reason
ful”, “not implementable”, or “not why we can’t unify over demand-
permissible” for their job or their ing, creating, and making widely
company when asked about the available affordable, high-quality,
Context Driven
training later? referenceable, effective training and
• Why it is that so much of the education for software testers – Do
referenceable training for software you?
testers is so cost prohibitive?
• Why have we accepted this as
the state of our field’s professional
Jumping
development? these practices or standards and
By DhanasEkar
I suspect that after asking your- about author question them. Few people trial
sUBraManiaM
self those questions, you’ll find these practices or standards before
yourself asking yourself one more Scott Barber is the Chief Tech- Once upon a time, a herd of applying them to their own projects.
question - the question that led me nologist of PerfTestPlus, Execu- sheep were grazing in green fields Suppose, there was a team leader
to get involved in this program in tive Director of the Association in the countryside. There was a who said you should execute 23.45
the first place… for Software Testing Co-Founder fence along the field’s border to re- test cases per day, find 23.456 bugs
• What can I do to improve the of the Workshop on Performance strict the sheep from crossing over per thousand lines of code and au-
availability and quality of training and Reliability and co-author of to the other side. One fine day, one tomate 3.56 test cases per day. The
available for people working in the the Microsoft patterns & practices sheep from the herd jumped over next day this becomes a standard for
areas of software quality and soft- book Performance Testing Guid- the fence to the other side. Another every tester in the team. It becomes a
ware testing? ance for Web Applications. Scott sheep followed. The shepherd saw Best Practice.
Maybe the answer to that ques- thinks of himself as a tester and this and decided to remove the I once worked for a company
tion will lead you to get involved trainer of testers who has a pas- fence so that the sheep would not which asked testers to execute X
with the program too. Maybe it sion for testing software system get hurt. number of test cases
will lead you to start a training performance. In additional to None Why not use something that per day. Executing X
program of your own. Maybe it performance testing, he is particu- of the has succeeded in the past?” target would ride so
will lead you to speak out against larly well versed in developing remain- high on tester’s minds
over-priced, ineffective, low quality customized testing methodologies, ing sheep that they would ignore
training that you’ve experienced. embedded systems testing, test- realized that the fence had been re- all the bugs that they find outside of
But if you agree that training and ing biometric identification and moved and continued to jump over the test cases, assuming that any of
education in our field is lacking, I personal security systems, group a fence that did not exist anymore. the testers ventured from the scripts
want to encourage you to take ac- facilitation and authoring instruc- This type of herd behavior is in the first place. Their focus was on
tion. tional materials. not just restricted to sheep, but also X test cases in a day, nothing more,
I do not believe that training and www.perftestplus.com among us testers as we try to follow nothing less. Such standards cage
the so called processes, best prac- testers’ imagination and prevent
tices and industry standards. Such them from thinking beyond the test
standards often start as an answer to scripts.
a problem which itself has a spe- If such standards are questioned,
cific context. Yet many testers who management often asks “Why re-
follow these processes don’t bother invent the wheel?
we solve your testing problems
to check if it suits their context Why not use something that has
www.testingtimes.ie
or not. If a particular process/best succeeded in the past?” The manage-
Services include practice/standard has succeeded on ment fails to ask if it suits the current
· Review your testing strategy a couple of occasions, it is assumed context.
· Usability Reviews that it will succeed for all time. The intention of quantifying
· Coach Software Testers through a software development release
· Train Software Testers Few people analyse these prac- everything is an overhead. Instead
· Supplement your software testing resources on-site or o -site tices or standards to see if it suits of focusing on such overheads, the
their context. Few people revisit need of the hour is to understand
Check out http://feeds.softwaretestingclub.com - nice aggregation of Software Testing Club blogs and news :)

22. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 21
the customer’s context and their who entered the particulars on that
needs and decide what works for page added a second signature in
them rather than what worked for the comments column by error (or
a different customer two years ago. intent?). The twenty other people
Customers depend on us to use who completed stationary requests
our technical knowledge, experi- that day copied without even bother-
ence and skill to provide them what ing to check why they needed to sign
is best suited for them. Custom- twice.
ers don’t ask about metrics if you So what happens if the processes
deliver them the best (Unless, you are questioned and analysed? It leads
want to overcharge them by show- to the discovery of new information
ing these metrics). Customer feed- which can be raised with the “right”
back is the right way to measure people. It leads to new ways of
quality. It’s not just counting test working. It leads to change. It leads
cases and defects raised. to new ideas. It leads to bugs, issues
I encountered this example of and further questions. It breaks down
blindly following when I was in assumptions and leads to real im-
need of a new notebook and a pen. provement.
The stationary is available at the
reception desk in our office where
process is Mere process
we need to make an entry in the
register when we collect the items. I
Process doesn’t find problems,
went to reception to get my station-
people do. Don’t follow the sheep in
ary where the receptionist gave me plained where I disagreed with her shines”. Of course that’s not wrong,
front of you blindly jumping obsta-
the register to make the entry. There arguments. She was surprised but but shouldn’t they be providing
cles that have since been removed,
were already many entries made on accepting that her view of the test- value for the money they charge?
or didn’t even exist in the first place.
the page, I was almost at the end ing lifecycle could well be wrong. I Shouldn’t they be imparting the right
Question, challenge and analyse.
of the page, so I checked the last talked about mine, but I didn’t stop knowledge, rather than teaching
entry to know what details to enter, there. I wanted to know from where misplaced information without really
it had the following details; Name,
about author
she had studied and learned about caring about the aftermath?
Employee ID, Particulars, Quantity, testing. What she told gave me the
“Pragmatist, Sapient Soft-
a signature and again the same sig- shock of my life.
nature in subsequent column.
ware tester, Automation Checker,
She had enrolled and paid a impact On The
Practising Context driven test-
I was wondering why he has
ing, Strongly believes Question-
hefty sum to a testing institute who Testing Community
signed it twice. I then looked an en- sent her a heap of training material
ing leads to Progress, Hakuna
try above and that too had two sig- to learn remotely. Now, that left me What is the the impact on the test-
matata.Take life as it comes
natures. So I scanned a few others perplexed. I wondered how much ing community at large? What would
and make it beautiful,blog at:
entries, all had the same patterns. of what she learned was right and be the impact on the companies
http://bit.ly/bXUt89 and tweets @
Now I looked at the column head- how much was wrong. these people end up working for?
sdhanasekar. Favorite quote “Life
ers. They were as follows; Employ- Will we get skilled people at work?
begins at the end of your comfort
ee Name, Employee ID, Particulars, What kind of quality deliverable can
Quantity, Employee Signature and
zone.“– Neale Donald Walsch” Masters Of The Field
we expect out of people who have
Comments. It seems the first person been trained this way?
It’s shocking to me that com-
panies whose business is to teach
how To handle
Future Testers In The
testing and who claim to be mas-
ters in the field impart misguided
and potentially wrong information
This situation?
Making Or Breaking? to candidates. How can a person,
totally new to the testing field, ever
figure out if they are getting honest,
It would be good if people, who
enrol in training institutes, verify the
correctness of the information given
By krishnaVEni One of the candidates started dis- real and accurate information? to them via trusted, impartial, online
This incident took place when cussing the testing life cycle. I got resources or by talking to their peers.
I went to attend an interview for interested and focused my attention. Cash Cow Mentality Unfortunately, this requires a testing
a prestigious IT company. While What I heard was a shocker. With- mindset, something these people are
I was waiting for my interview, I out fearing bad manners, I politely One of the major problems is maybe trying to build upon in the
overheard a conversation between volunteered to correct her. that anything that becomes a trend first place.
two other candidates who were I told her that what she was say- or the “in-thing” and is widely
seated alongside me. They were ing didn’t fit with my understanding in demand, becomes a very good
talking loudly enough to be heard of the testing life cycle, so I pro- business opportunity. There are read More Testing Books
across the hallway, so I didn’t have ceeded to give her what I believe to many people who bank on it to
to strain to listen to their conversa- be the right information. At first she make quick money, just as the say-
refused to accept my version. I ex- ing goes “Make hay while the sun Read, read and read more. There are
tion. many great books on testing avail-
Thanks to Stephen Hill (@Stephen_J_Hill) and Thomas Ponnet (@ThomasPonnet) for volunteering time to help out with
The Testing Planet

23. 22 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
able. The Internet is also a great Elizabeth Fiennes: which is a great skill in testing
source of information to guide new trisherino: Elizabeth: good point, that’s a good testing skill
search To Evaluate The
apprentices to the world of software Marlena Compton: There’s an American saying, “I disagree with what you
testing. You can join many online Companies Credibility say, but will die defending your right to say it.”
discussion forums to share your Elizabeth Fiennes: exactly
knowledge and find lots of informa- Know more about the institutes Elizabeth Fiennes: except with that particular author, I might just take a
tion for you to browse through. before joining in blindly. Research Chinese burn on their behalf but not much more
sufficiently. Talk to students who Elizabeth Fiennes:
have studied there in the past. Talk Markus Gärtner: so, to wrap up on self-education in testing is worthy,
network With to the lecturers and teachers to get an maybe we need a different teaching model, besides universities...and certi-
passionate Testers understanding of their personalities, fication is just paper
passion and course material. Elizabeth Fiennes: that’s the masters you get after the degree from the
The Testing field has progressed university of life?
rapidly over the last few years. ray Of hope Markus Gärtner: blogging helps to have ideas floating around, and im-
There is loads of information on proves our argumentation skills, argumentation skills? Or discussion skills?
testing available on forums and I hope this has been a good, if not Markus Gärtner: oh, and conferences are great to connect and get new
websites including groups of pas- brief, eye opener for the many aspir- ideas
sionate testers who are dedicated to ing people who are thinking about trisherino: It forces you to form ideas properly into words, which I think
helping grow and steer the testing parting with large sums of money helps with learning.
community. and their precious time in the pursuit Rob Lambert: lol we’re off again
It’s really good to see that pas- of becoming a more experienced Elizabeth Fiennes: Engagement skills
sionate testers are willing to share software tester. Rob Lambert: engagement skills - interesting.
their precious knowledge and are Rob Lambert: Takes it to the level of a two way conversation with empathy
willing to help people learn more on each side
about testing. about author Marlena Compton: We need much more engagement skills and less debate
skills in testing.
Name: Krishnaveni Markus Gärtner: +1 Marlena
Find a Mentor For yourself Job title: Senior QA Engineer trisherino: @Marlena completely agree
About Me: Have been in testing trisherino: Written engagement skills even. Which can be difficult.
for the past 5 years and am truly Elizabeth Fiennes: well, 20-ish years ago, we all started off on IRC and it
Having a mentor makes learning passionate about it. was mental the flame wars that took place
easier by setting a suitable direc- Elizabeth Fiennes: then we graduated to nicer message boards, webpages,
tion and context to your learning IM chats, forums and blogs
goals with someone highly skilled Elizabeth Fiennes: and the same flaming is still going on by newbies to the
and motivating. It is good to find formats
like- minded testers willing to help Elizabeth Fiennes: whereas us old hats know that is not the way to engage
budding testers to learn and practice Rob Lambert: oh how there have been some flame wars in testing
testing. Rob Lambert: what is the best way to engage?
Marlena Compton: so....
Rob Lambert: when faced with distance
STC Chat Elizabeth Fiennes: stepping back
Elizabeth Fiennes: asking yourself, is this someone looking for a flamed
response, is it worth my time to give it, will me ripping his head off (meta-
hOsTED By rOB LaMBErT phorically) in a public forum achieve anything?
Elizabeth Fiennes: and if the answers are yes, no and no, then go and find
something else to read that is not going to make me go all 1995-IRC on
is The Explosion in Blogs about Testing a positive Thing, their post
Even if We Don’t agree With The Message? trisherino: I think when it comes to online debates, we have the advantage
of being able to take the time to calm down before writing a response, un-
Elizabeth Fiennes: Yes it is as it promotes discussion like in some face to face scenarios.
Markus Gärtner: yes Rob Lambert: @trish - indeed
Marlena Compton: Visibility is good. Marlena Compton: twitter, on the other hand.
trisherino: yes absolutely! Rob Lambert: @trish - in our daily jobs it can also be prudent to take a step
trisherino: Free flow of ideas. If people don’t agree with the message, it back and think about things. Especially in heated meetings
will at least get them talking. trisherino: @Rob That’s true as well, if possible.
Rob Lambert: for sure Elizabeth Fiennes: thing is, I think that slowing yourself down online
Marlena Compton: +1 for that teaches you the value of holding back your reactionary self and once your
Markus Gärtner: it helps in bouncing ideas around, thereby making our embrace that, you can apply it in real life (without realising it) as well
profession even more professional Thomas Ponnet: A couple of thoughts from me after reading the quite sub-
Elizabeth Fiennes: and understanding the views of someone you do not stantial discussion. I didn’t read it with a glass of wine as Elizabeth sug-
agree with help with engaging with them gested, I didn’t think that would improve the reply..
Markus Gärtner: ok, got a topic for the weekend
Coverage must apply to performance tests, too. Showing the truth (low % coverage) will drive innovation in your testing
#dttip by @ bradjohnsonsv

24. Follow us at www.twitter.com/testingclub 23
is attending Conferences Valuable? so is a Diploma With Work Experience a Way To Go?
Markus Gärtner: depends Elizabeth Fiennes: For me, yes
Elizabeth Fiennes: oooh, there is a question Markus Gärtner: that depends
Marlena Compton: yes...it gets you out of your own fishbowl trisherino: Sounds like a good idea.
Elizabeth Fiennes: attending can be expensive, whatever about valuable Marlena Compton: Seems like it assumes certain limits to software.
Marlena Compton: Especially if you are a solo tester or on a small team. Markus Gärtner: diversity in work experience would be more interesting to
Markus Gärtner: attending a conference on the solar system may be of an employer, I think
lesser value than attending eurostar trisherino: I guess it depends on what’s being taught?
trisherino: I’ve only ever been to STANZ for testing conferences. Went to Marlena Compton: I think I agree with what you said.
some developer ones though. Rob Lambert: I have worked in many industries and each one has needed
trisherino: but STANZ was invaluable, especially as I was the only tester a new set of ideas and principles not to mention new people with different
on my team at the time skill sets and new terminology
Marlena Compton: I went to GTAC and it opened my eyes Marlena Compton: Do you mean “testing diploma” or “a diploma”
Markus Gärtner: I think the professional exchange during the breaks is the Markus Gärtner: well, I think it’s unlikely that you learn everything at a
best benefit you can get from a conference with a bad program single company, and that everything you learned there is of any meaning at
Marlena Compton: and GTAC is free a different company
Markus Gärtner: oh, it is? Elizabeth Fiennes: I mean a software testing diploma
Marlena Compton: yep Marlena Compton: that assumes limits to software
trisherino: I found the conference really opened up a whole new world for trisherino: It would be nice to have something like that to give wannabe
me, of people who are interested in testing. testers a starting point to further their own education through self-learning
Markus Gärtner: you should have told me this one year earlier and experience.
Marlena Compton: @trisherino I think I had a similar feeling at GTAC Rob Lambert: @markus - absolutely. Staying at the same company can
trisherino: where is GTAC? often be detrimental
Marlena Compton: This year it’s at Hyderabad. I attended in Seattle Rob Lambert: you need to explore how different places work
Rob Lambert: I find them inspiring. Gives me the ideas to try out and the Elizabeth Fiennes: That’s true Rob but in every company I have gone to, I
enthusiasm to do so have drawn on skills that I have learned somewhere else
Markus Gärtner: I noticed that a community of great people also helps my Elizabeth Fiennes: (and developed some new ones)
own thinking Rob Lambert: but have these been general skills suitable for any industry
Markus Gärtner: it’s infectious Markus Gärtner: (weekend testing can provide you with some experience
Elizabeth Fiennes: you know what I would find really useful as a tester in different applications, if you like to take the challenge)
(esp. one working as the dogsbody for a startup) - an online calender of Elizabeth Fiennes: Yes, the ability to think quickly, stay calm, not throw
testing events, confs etc heavy objects at PMs, all very transferable skills
Rob Lambert:check out the SoftwareTestingClub calendar Rob Lambert: commuinication? Analysis?
trisherino: Elizabeth - yes! I have been looking for some calendar like that Rob Lambert: Social skills? Learning? Self teaching?
Markus Gärtner: last year, GTAC was in Switzerland, I think Rob Lambert: Being unafraid to ask questions?
Rob Lambert: @markus - the conversations outside of the event are the Marlena Compton: So would the same “testing diploma” prepare me to test
really great value add. at Microsoft and Atlassian?
Elizabeth Fiennes: I tend to find out about confs in retrospect when ppl Markus Gärtner: i think there is a difference between experience in terms
blog about them of practically applying something, and knowing about it
trisherino: There never seems to be many testing events happening in Aus- Markus Gärtner: the most critical thing for myself was my ability and will-
tralia. But maybe I’m just not aware? ingness to learn new things on my own
Marlena Compton: @trisherino You are right. Markus Gärtner: so, learning is a worthwhile thing to have
Rob Lambert: Start one Rob Lambert: @markus essential some might say?
Marlena Compton: I’ve counted 3 trisherino: Sounds about as good as any other diploma / degree - enough
trisherino: Marlena: good time for us to start some? to learn some terms and concepts, but then you get into the industry and
Rob Lambert: yay realise you don’t know a damn thing.
Marlena Compton: A peer conference or unconference might be fun. Rob Lambert: @trish - good point. I’ve seen that first hand
Rob Lambert: open space events are fun Markus Gärtner: I learned some of that during my university courses (to
Markus Gärtner: started to love the open space parts at the last few confs I get back to Rob’s question from earlier)
visited Marlena Compton: I stick by my Interdisciplinary Studies degree. The CS
Marlena Compton: New Zealand is having one soon. Wish I could go. degree has made it easier, but I could have done without it.
trisherino: Marlena: I’d be happy to help organise something in Sydney Markus Gärtner: I don’t know whom to attribute it, but “I’ll stop learning
sometime. when I’m dead.”
Marlena Compton: @trisherino We can talk about it. Rob Lambert: If you think you’ve reached the top you are already on your
way down
Elizabeth Fiennes: There’s a top to software testing?
Marlena Compton: yeah....less specialization
Elizabeth Fiennes: I heard it as I’ll stop improving when I’m dead but same
principle
Any comments on The Testing Planet? hello@softwaretestingclub.com

25. 24 July 2010 www.softwaretestingclub.com Use #testingclub hashtag
Weather & Games
Across
2. Simultaneous learning, test design and test execution
4. An iterative, incremental framework for project management
and agile software development
7. A name of a test tool and a chemical element
9. The real name of ‘The Social Tester’
10. A software implementation of a machine
Down
1. A type of people who join The Software Testing Club
3. A name of a test conference that shares it’s name with a train service
5. An open source automated acceptance testing and ATDD framework
6. Also known as an error
8. A type of team also confused with a test team
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