I often consult on software process improvement. As part of that, I promote an idea called “heuristic process improvement”. Heuristic process improvement is different than the typical process improvement approach in that it centers on developing the skills of the people on the project, while developing heuristics (NOT rote procedures) to help them do […]

(This article is adapted from work I did with Johanna Rothman, at the 1st Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference. It’s never been widely published, so here you go.)
As a context-driven testing methodologist, I am required to think through the methods I use. Sometimes that means debating methodology with people who have a different view about what […]

Thanks to Michael Bolton, for plunging in at Eurostar after I had to cancel. He has blogged on it here and here.
For what it’s worth, this is the presentation I was going to give at Eurostar, before I had to drop out.
And interestingly, Matthew Heusser just blogged on one of my central ideas: that different […]

Recently I posted a sort-of attack on Jim Pensyl, who had posted a sort-of attack on my community. Then an interesting thing happened. He withdrew his blog post and called me on the phone. That was unexpected. Almost nobody de-escalates that way. The two normal responses are A) abandon the debate, or B) continue the […]

(I had written a critical analysis and response to a post by Jim Pensyl, AKA Jake Brake. Jim subsequently took down that post, and it seems the right thing to take down mine. However, I got two comments on my original piece, and I’ll leave those alone, especially the one by Steve Smith, a friend […]

Last week, I had to cancel a class and rush home to take care of my wife, who had become unable to eat or drink anything. Turns out she needed emergency surgery to repair a blocked intestine. She’s recovering fine and I’m writing this from the chair next to her hospital bed, where I sleep […]

I’ve been reading a bit about the Technological Singularity. It’s an interesting and chilling idea conceived by people who aren’t testers. It goes like this: the progress of technology is increasing exponentially. Eventually the A.I. technology will exist that will be capable of surpassing human intelligence and increasing its own intelligence. At that point, called […]

I just read this on another blog:
“Regression testing is usually seen as the poorer cousin of ‘proper’ domain-abstracted assertion-based testing. Often rightly so!”
In twenty years of doing testing, managing testing, attending many many conferences and reading many papers and books on testing, I have not heard of “domain-abstracted assertion-based testing”.
I don’t know what assertion-based testing […]

This is my new office on Orcas Island. The rest of the house is piled high with boxes, but at least this part is functional. The body of water outside is East Sound, which is about a mile wide. The west side of the island rises up on the other side.
It’s peaceful here, except for […]

I just finished a 10 day drive across the U.S. with my son. We just moved from Virginia to Orcas Island, Washington. My Internet and telephone is not yet set up, and we are madly trying to direct the movers and such. If you have emailed me, this is why I’m so slow in responding.
I […]