The short answer is: you never know for sure that a test has ended. Case in point. The license plate on my car is "tester." It looks like this: On December 20th, I received this notice in the … [Read more...] about When Does a Test End?
Testing vs. Checking
Yaron Sinai Says Stop Thinking, Stupid Tester
The Factory School is that community of process people who believe testing benefits from eliminating the human element as much as possible. They wish to mechanize testing, and to condition the humans … [Read more...] about Yaron Sinai Says Stop Thinking, Stupid Tester
The IMVU Shuffle
Michael Bolton reported on our quick test of IMVU, whose development team brags about having no human-mediated test process before deploying their software to the field. Some commentors have pointed … [Read more...] about The IMVU Shuffle
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
Question: How Many Times Should You Run a Test?
Kevin asks: What is the best or industry standard for how many times a test case should be run? There are questions that should not be answered. For instance, "What size unicorn do you wear?" or "How … [Read more...] about Question: How Many Times Should You Run a Test?
Manual Tests Cannot Be Automated (DEPRECATED)
[Note: This post is here only to serve as a historical example of how I used to speak about "automated testing." My language has evolved. The sentiment of this post is still valid, but I have become … [Read more...] about Manual Tests Cannot Be Automated (DEPRECATED)
Studying Jeff Atwood’s Paint Can
I just found Jeff Atwood's Coding Horror blog. He's an interesting writer and thinker. One of his postings presents a good example of the subtle role of skill even in highly scripted activities. He … [Read more...] about Studying Jeff Atwood’s Paint Can
Lack of Will
A core problem with quality in our industry is lack of will. Lack of "will work", that is. This is because it's much easier to tell that a product can work than that it will work. And too often it … [Read more...] about Lack of Will