Software Testing
On my last blog entry I introduced some zero-order measurements for agile software teams which I use quite often. One reader asked for an explanation:
Could you elaborate more about zero-order measurements? What does it mean?
Here is the primer.
Continue reading Zero-order measurements – a primerAbout two years ago I read Quality Software Management Volume 2 – First-order measurement from Jerry Weinberg. In it, he explains the differences between first-order and second-order measurements. The latter is a replacement measurement. Instead of measuring the thing, we measure something that we substitute for the thing that we are measuring. For example, measuring code coverage usually is a second-order measurement for test quality. It does not really measure the quality of the underlying tests, since you don’t know how many assertions lie behind the covered lines of code. In the same book, Weinberg also provides the concept of zero-order measurements for projects. A few months ago I was surprised that these seem to be focused on traditional projects, rather than agile ones. Since then I decided to come up with zero-order measurements for agile projects. So, here are some of the things I look for when entering a new client or company.
Continue reading 7 Zero-order measurements for agile projectsOne of the three things that bring innovations, is copulation. That’s basically two already good ideas having sex with each other. I learned this from Jerry Weinberg’s Becoming a technical leader. The longer I stay in test automation and agile, though, I think this does not hold for combinations of testing tools, like a testing framework, and a UI-driver.
Continue reading Testing Tools Mash-UpsYesterday during my keynote at the Agile Testing Days 2012 I said I see a lot of standups, where testers report on their yesterday’s work in the following way:
Yesterday I tested the thing with the stuff. I found some bugs, and filed them. Today I will test the foo with the bar.
I think this is horrible test reporting. While concluding the fifth beta of Elisabeth Hendrickson‘s upcoming book Explore it! I found a few more hints in the same direction. On the same line I will relate good test reporting during the standup to what for example Michael Bolton talks about when it comes to test reporting – we should tell three stories during test reporting:
On my way to EuroSTAR 2012 I was starting to think about the Cynefin model, and landscape diagrams which I know from giving some courses. I tried to relate them to software testing, different techniques, and I was not sure where this could lead me.
I had some exchanges with Michael Bolton, Bart Knaack and Huib Schoots on my early draft, and I wanted to share what I had ended up with. So, here it is.
Continue reading A testing landscapeAt EuroSTAR 2012 I took the opportunity to learn something about the new international software testing standard since I wouldn’t take the time to read through all this stuff, anyways.
Continue reading EuroSTAR 2012: ISO 29119 – The New International Software Testing StandardThis year I took all three courses on Black-box Software Testing. Each of them means an investment of four weeks of my time, usually up to 2-4 hours per day. This was quite a blast, and I am happy that I made it through the courses.
One thing that stroke me in the first course was the different uses and misuses of code coverage discussed in the first part, the Foundations course. Here is a short description of things I have seen working, and not working so much.
Continue reading Code Coverage – useful or misuseful?Two weeks ago the second GATE workshop took place in our offices in Munich. Unfortunately some of the participants couldn’t make it. So, there were the three of us, Meike Mertsch, Alexander Simic, and myself. Although we were a bit low on energy in the morning, the day turned out to be a wholesome day of transpection – or if you prefer, we did a lot of test chat. Here’s what still sticks with me from the day.
Continue reading GATE No. 2: A transpection reportIt has been about three weeks right now since the second Agile Lean Europe in Barcelona. Although I had the best intentions back then, I promised to write a blog entry about my experiences there, I didn’t do it until now. It seems the best stuff I take away from the break-out conversations in the coffee breaks these days when at conferences, not so much from the session itself. This also holds for the ALE 2012.
Last weekend I was invited to Odessa, Ukraine for the Ukrainian Testing Days, a conference that Andrii Dzynia co-organized. Andrii has organized public testing dojos in the Ukraine in the past. He asked me to put the reports from their sessions on my blog in an English translation. I think he does great work there for the Ukrainian community. So, I was eager to see that community in action. I had a pleasant trip, staying in Odessa was very comfortable to me, especially since Julia Cherniak dropped me from the airport, and led me around in town on the first day. Here is a full report from my roughly two days in the Ukraine.
Continue reading Trip report from the Ukrainian Testing Days