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Month: September 2012

Premises of Rapid Software Testing, Part 3

Over the last two days, I’ve published the premises of the Rapid Software Testing classes and methodology, as developed by James Bach and me. The first set addresses the nature of Rapid Testing’s engagement with software development—an ambitious activity, performed by fallible humans for other fallible humans, under conditions of uncertainty and time pressure. The second set addresses the nature of testing as an investigative activity focused on understanding the … Read more

Premises of Rapid Software Testing, Part 2

Yesterday I published the first three premises that underlie the Rapid Software Testing methodology developed and taught by James Bach and me. Today’s two are on the nature of “test” as an activity—a verb, rather than a noun—and the purpose of testing as we see it: understanding the product and imparting that understanding to our clients, with emphasis on problems that threaten the product’s value. 4. A test is an … Read more

Premises of Rapid Software Testing, Part 1

In February of 2012, James Bach and I got together for a week of work one-on-one, face-to-face—something that happens all too rarely. We worked on a number of things, but the principal outcome was a statement of the premises on which Rapid Software Testing—our classes and our methodology—are based. In deference to Twitter-sized attention spans like mine, I’ll post the premises over the next few days. Here’s the preamble and … Read more

The Customer Wants To Speak With You. Why Cover Your Ears?

Speaking of oracles—the ways in which we recognize problems… I’m on the mailing list for a company whose product I purchased a while ago. The other day, I received a mailing signed by the product marketing manager for that company. The topic of the mailing is a potential use for the product, but the product doesn’t support that purpose very well at all. In fact, I’ve often wanted to use … Read more