thoughts from the test eye

I use Jerry Weinberg’s definition of quality: “Quality is value to some person”; and I use Cem Kaner’s extension to the definition so that it becomes “Quality is value to some person (that matters)”… I.e. quality is inherently subjective. And there are a lot of persons that are affected by software that we produce… With this in […]

There are some things about software testing that are special, but not unique: * you are never done, and there is always something to do * you have to be creative very often * you are dependent on new, different and conflicting technologies, users, objectives It’s not easy to be a tester, thank God for […]

I just want to promote a really good blog post written by Michael Bolton where he describes the difference between Testing and Checking: http://www.developsense.com/2009/08/testing-vs-checking.html I wish that many managers, testers and developers read this post… Cheers, Henrik

In order to become a successful inquisitive tester, there are a couple of things you can do to improve your skills beyond the more common quest to “question a product”. One important thing is to question the tests themselves. ——————– Have you ever run tests and wondered if they were really necessary, perhaps knowing that the tests […]

Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. […]

This was originally meant as an answer to the (ironic) thread http://thetesteye.com/blog/2009/06/long-live-the-waterfall/ where a new thread was forked when Ola Janson launched a couple of questions regarding agile development. My answers and thoughts on those questions are listed here. In one reply to Ola, Rikard says that he has “…never worked in a truly Agile project…” […]

From a managerial perspective without knowing too much about testing, your sole experience comes from the scripted test environment… What does Scripted Testing include? Control over what is to be tested, in the sense that you have a clear coverage of test cases on certain areas. Reports where you can see exactly how many test […]

You are on a quite large company where there are several QA divisions, several layers of management, several listeners to each step of the development process. It is the final weeks of the release. You are about to enter a bug which seem serious but you are not sure. You can take at least two paths […]

When you come up with a new test idea, you are using your knowledge and experience, but there is also some sort of stimuli that triggers the idea. Something you see, hear, understand or think about. You seldom think in totally new ways, you rather combine things in a new way. These are my favorite […]

A cheer to those of you who were able to attend this conferance: http://www.waterfall2006.com/ My favorites: http://www.waterfall2006.com/crispin.html http://www.waterfall2006.com/jeffries.html Thank god everyone is not a believer of the hype around the Agile Movement. Process is king!