Pradeep Soundararajan got threatened with lawyers when he criticized Testing Experience magazine for being under the thumb of the ISTQB (for those who don't yet know, the ISTQB are the guys who want … [Read more...] about Pradeep Pulls The Tail of the ISTQB
Testing Culture
Tawney Gowan: A New Colleague is Born
I'm well known for promoting philosophy. By philosopher, I mean someone skilled in the exploration, analysis and clarification of meaningful ideas and the processes by which we arrive at those ideas. … [Read more...] about Tawney Gowan: A New Colleague is Born
Quality is Dead #2: The Quality Creation Myth
One of the things that makes it hard to talk about quality software is that we first must overcome the dominating myth about quality, which goes like this: The quality of a product is built into it by … [Read more...] about Quality is Dead #2: The Quality Creation Myth
Schools of Testing… Here to Stay.
The world of testing is divided into camps. Those camps argue with each other, sometimes. Mostly they ignore each other. These camps are like religions of software testing. They are determined and … [Read more...] about Schools of Testing… Here to Stay.
We Need Better Testing Bloggers
I don't understand the mentality of bloggers like this guy. His view of the history of testing is a fantasy that seems designed to insult people who study testing. It applies at most to certain … [Read more...] about We Need Better Testing Bloggers
Conscientious Uncertification
I'm thinking of having badges made which say "Conscientiously Uncertified." It's for those of us who want to resist the dumbing down of our craft by cynical consultants promoting bogus tester … [Read more...] about Conscientious Uncertification
What if Software Development isn’t Golf?
Jason Gorman uses a golf analogy to talk about estimation. I like his analogy, but he didn't take it far enough for me. He left out a key element: we may not be playing golf. A typical sin committed … [Read more...] about What if Software Development isn’t Golf?
Lawyers are Testers, Too
In 1982, when I was still in high school, I read an article in Time Magazine about teenagers who worked as programmers. The article inspired me to quit school and go to work as a programmer, too. I'm … [Read more...] about Lawyers are Testers, Too
Methodology Debates: Traps and Transformations
(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 … [Read more...] about Methodology Debates: Traps and Transformations
Collegiality
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 … [Read more...] about Collegiality