DevelopsenseLogo

Tester’s Mindset

Michael Bolton, Software Testing Coach, about “must-have” skills for a good Test Engineer

Sigma Software
Michael Bolton, Software Testing Coach, author of Rapid Software Testing, consultant and influencer talks about Ukrainian QA specialists and their expertise and shares his ideas on “must-have” knowledge and skills for a good Test Engineer. The interview was taken during his three-day training organized by QA Fest and hosted by Sigma Software in Kiev.

Exploratory Testing on an API? (Part 2)

Summary:  Loops of exploration, experimentation, studying, modeling, and learning are the essence of testing, not an add-on to it. The intersection of activity and models (such as the Heuristic Test Strategy Model) help us to perform testing while continuously developing, refining, and reviewing it. Testing is much more than writing a bunch of automated checks to confirm that the product can do something; it’s an ongoing investigation in which we … Read more

Four (and More) Questions for Testers to Ask

Testers investigate problems and risk. Other people manage the project, design the product, and write the code. As testers, we participate in that process, but in a special way and from a special perspective: it’s our primary job to anticipate, seek, and discover problems in products. It’s probably a good idea to clear up some possible ambiguity here. When I’m talking about a product, I’m talking about anything that some … Read more

Finding the Happy Path

In response to yesterday’s post on The Happy Path colleague and friend Albert Gareev raises an important issue: Until we sufficiently learned about the users, the product, and the environment, we have no idea what usage pattern is a “happy path” and what would be the “edge cases”. I agree with Albert. (See more of what he has to say here.) This points to a kind of paradox in testing … Read more

How is the testing going?

Last week on Twitter, I posted this: “The testing is going well.” Does this mean the product is in good shape, or that we’re obtaining good coverage, or finding lots of bugs? “The testing is going badly.” The product is in good shape? Testing is blocked? We’re noting lots of bugs erroneously? — Michael Bolton (@michaelbolton) January 31, 2018 “The testing is going well.” Does this mean the product is … Read more

It’s Not A Factory

One model for a software development project is the assembly line on the factory floor, where we’re making a buhzillion copies of the same thing. And it’s a lousy model. Software is developed in an architectural studio with people in it. There are drafting tables, drawing instruments, good lighting, pens and pencils and paper. And erasers, and garbage cans that get full of coffee cups and crumpled drawings. Good ideas … Read more

On Green

A little while ago, I took a look at what happens when a check runs red. Since then, comments and conversations with colleagues emphasized this point from the post: it’s overwhelmingly common first to doubt the red result, and then to doubt the check. A red check almost provokes a kind of panic for some testers, because it takes away a green check’s comforting—even narcotic—confirmation that Everything Is Going Just … Read more