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Michael Bolton

“What Tests Should I Automate?”

Instead of asking “What tests should I automate?” consider asking some more pointed questions. If you really mean “how should I think about using tools in testing?”, consider reading A Context-Driven Approach to Automation in Testing, and Testing and Checking Refined. If you’re asking about the checking of output or other facts about the state of the product, keep reading. Really good fact checking benefits from taking account of your … Read more

Testing Doesn’t Improve the Product

(This post is adapted from my recent article on LinkedIn.) Out there in the world, there is a persistent notion that “preventing problems early in the software development process will lead to higher-quality products than testing later will”. That isn’t true. It’s untrue, but not for the reason that might first occur to most people. The issue is not that addressing problems early on is a bad idea. That’s usually … Read more

Experience Report: Katalon Studio

Warning: this is another long post. But hey, it’s worth it, right? Introduction This is an experience report of attempting to perform a session of sympathetic survey and sanity testing on a “test automation” tool. The work was performed in September 2021, with follow-up work November 3-4, 2021. Last time, the application under test was mabl. This time, the application is Katalon Studio. My self-assigned charter was to explore and … Read more

Experience Report: mabl Trainer and runner, and related features

Screen shot from Mattermost while testing mabl

Warning: this is a long post. Introduction This is an experience report of attempting to perform a session of sympathetic survey and sanity testing, done in September 2021, with follow-up work October 13-15, 2021. The product being tested is mabl. My self-assigned charter was to perform survey testing of mabl, based on a performing a basic task with the product. The task was to automate a simple set of steps, … Read more

To Go Deep, Start Shallow

Here are two questions that testers ask me pretty frequently: How can I show management the value of testing? How can I get more time to test? Let’s start with the second question first. Do you feel overwhelmed by the product space you’ve been assigned to cover relative to the time you’ve been given? Are you concerned that you won’t have enough time to find problems that matter? As testers, … Read more

Alternatives to “Manual Testing”: Experiential, Interactive, Exploratory

This is an extension on a long Twitter thread from a while back that made its way to LinkedIn, but not to my blog. Update, 2022/12/07: James Bach and I have recently changed “attended” to “interactive”, to emphasize the tester’s direct interaction with the product that happens during so-called “manual” testing. “Interactive” is more evocative of what’s going on than “attended” is, but it’s also true the tester’s interaction might … Read more

Test with Brains or Bots

Fireside chat with Michael Bolton | QA TechTalks Community 0:10 / 55:43

Topic: Would you prefer to test with brains or bots? An interactive short talk & discussion about test with brains or bots or both with best practices, evidence, proofs, examples, and inputs. A weekly fireside chat series to share with the community.

Speaker: Michael Bolton I help people and organizations find product problems and solve testing problems quickly and expertly with Rapid Software Testing. developsense.com / rapid-software-testing.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-b…

Takeaways:
1. Real-time examples
2. Tools & Techniques
3. Rapid Software Testing
4. Best practices and strategies
5. Advantages & disadvantages with manual and automation testing
6. Scope of testing in future

More details here: https://www.tech-talks.info/registration

Exact Instructions vs. Social Competence

An amusing video from a few years back has been making the rounds lately. Dad challenges the kids to write exact instructions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Dad follows those instructions. The kids find the experience difficult and frustrating, because Dad interprets the “exact” instructions exactly—but differently from the way the kids intended. I’ll be here when you get back. Go ahead and watch it. Welcome … Read more