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Michael Bolton

Bug of The Day: Bad Data Means Search for Book Title Fails

This is your periodic reminder that data has problems, just like code does. A correspondent on LinkedIn pointed me towards a book by George Lakoff, an author I admire. For some reason, I had not been aware of the book. So I looked it up. I wanted to go straight to it, so I put the title in quotes: Hmmm. That’s a little strange. Nothing? Let’s try without the quotes. … Read more

A Naïve Request from Management

A tester recently asked “If you’re asked to write a ‘test plan’ for a new feature before development starts, what type of thing do you produce?” I answered that I would produce a reply: “I’d be happy to do that. What would you like to see in this test plan?” The manager’s reply was, apparently, “test cases covering all edge cases we’ll need to test”. That’s a pretty naïve request. … Read more

Regression Testing and Discipline

Another tester on an “Agile” team complains of being overwhelmed by the volume of regression testing he says he must do at the end of each sprint. Why are some development organizations fixated on regression testing? Not why do they do it (that can be quite reasonable), but why are they fixated on it? I have a theory. It goes without saying that every change to the product or system … Read more

To Avoid Trouble Successfully, We Must Look For It

Software testing can be socially difficult because of people’s natural desire to avoid trouble. This prompts them to avoid thinking about trouble, which means that they don’t look for it. But if you don’t try to find the trouble that’s in your product, that trouble will eventually find you. Some might say we do think about trouble, and we try to avoid it by getting clear on our intentions in … Read more

Ask Me Anything with Michael Bolton

QA ATL 2020 Day 2.5http://www.qaatl.com From the YouTube description… Too often, conference sessions don’t allow enough time for questions and answers. For QA ATL, Michael Bolton will deliver a conference session that is nothing but questions and answers. Michael invites you to ask him anything about topics near and dear to him, including (but not limited to) developing test strategy, recognizing problems in products, thinking critically, analyzing risk, applying tools, … Read more

Lessons Learned from a Little Bug

Almost 10 years ago, I wrote a series of blog posts on project estimation and black swans. And, almost 10 years after that, Chris NeJame reported an observation about the following passage towards the end of Part 4 of the series: As Jerry (Weinberg) has frequently pointed out, plenty of organizations fall victim to back luck, but much of the time, it’s not the bad luck that does them in; … Read more

Testing Doesn’t Add Value to the Product

Testers consistently ask how to show (or demonstrate, or prove, or calculate) that testing adds value. Programmers, designers, and other builders create and add value by creating and building and improving the product. Testing does not add value to the product. And that’s fine. Managers assure quality by helping programmers, designers, and others to obtain the resources they need, and by removing (or at least reducing) obstacles to their work. … Read more

Expected Results

Klára Jánová is a dedicated tester who studies and practices and advocates Rapid Software Testing. Recently, on LinkedIn, she said: I might EXPECT something to happen. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I WANT IT/DESIRE for IT to happen. I even may want it to happen, but it not happening doesn’t have to automatically mean that there’s a problem. The point of this post: no more “expected results” in the … Read more