One thing that Michael Hunter pointed out to me after the Rapid Software Testing course, which I hereby rectify: he claimed that he couldn’t find FDSFSCURA anywhere on the Net. What is FDSFSCURA and why should you care? FDSFSCURA is the mnemonic for the nine test techniques that we identify in the course. It comes from James Bach’s Heuristic Test Strategy Model. It stands for Function TestingDomain TestingStress TestingFlow TestingScenario … Read more

I first noticed Michael Hunter‘s blog a couple of years back. Michael’s blog was the most thoughtful and valuable work I had seen on testing coming from Microsoft, and it has only got better since then. I found out that Michael would be at SD West 2005. I wasn’t able to attend the conference–I was teaching in Sunnyvale that week. However, a a large number of my pals–colleagues involved with … Read more

I was back in Bengalooru (formerly Bangalore) during the week of January 30-February 3, 2007. I was doing training for a corporate client. Outside of the training (which I enjoyed and the students did too, I believe) one really positive thing happened while I was there: Pradeep Soundararajan helped me to organize a meeting of some of the people in Bengalooru who are interested in establishing a community of skilled … Read more

I did a half-day tutorial–a Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing–at the STeP-IN Summit 2007, on the morning of January 18 in Bengalooru (formerly Bangalore), India. After lunch, the choice was between a presentation on test automation strategies and building test management skills. I chose to sit in on the latter. The presenter was Jaya Raghuram (Raghu) from AppLabs Technologies. Apparently his colleagues were unable to attend the scheduled talk, … Read more

Today I found a very strange remark in an article called “Best Practices for Outsourcing Software Testing and Development“. The question from the interview is “What are some of the mistakes that companies commonly make when outsourcing software testing?” Sashi Reddi, CEO of AppLabs Technology, a Philadelphia-based company that specializes in software testing and development with an emphasis on quality assurance, says: The biggest mistake is that many times companies … Read more

Recently I went to parent-teacher night at my 10-year-old stepson’s school. Above the door to his classroom is a list of heuristics for solving problems that I think is just dandy for testers. They’re not called heuristics there, but that’s what they are. Use logical reasoning Work backwards Make a picture or diagram Use or look for a pattern Make it simpler Guess and check Use or make a table … Read more

If you’re not already member of the Software Testing group on Yahoo, I’d recommend joining it; it’s where some of my favourite context-driven testers hang out. Better yet, join the group and contribute. The frequency of postings is relatively low, but the level of discourse is quite high. Today–November 5, 2006–there’s a wonderful thing: an experience report from Pradeep Soundararajan, a tester in India that James Bach has been coaching … Read more

I’ve been invited back to Spain by the people at inQA.labs in Barcelona, for their expo:QA conference in Madrid, November 27-30, 2006. That would be nice enough, but for me there’s a bonus: Scott Barber will be there, and he’s another person on my list of People That Testers Should Know. I first had a chance to chat with Scott at the Exploratory Testing Research Summit and the Workshop on … Read more

I have no good explanation for why, until today, I hadn’t added Mike Kelly to the list of people that I respect. Fixed. Mike is President of the Association for Software Testing, a terrific, articulate, and (*ahem!*) regular blogger. He’s one of the small-but-growing group of passionate advocates for real tester skill. He’s engaged with the creation of Open Certification for Software Testers, which even I might be able to … Read more