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We need to talk about testing…
Rosie Sherry posted a scary statement / question / challenge on The Ministry of Testing site: “The Abysmal State of Testing in 2016 and What Can We Do About It“. I started responding on the forum, but...
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How AIs might change Software Development – and Humanity – forever.
There is plenty of discussion in the wider world about the rise of the thinking machines, and where will humans fit in a world run by AIs. In software development, it’s tempting to think that we’re...
View ArticleAutomation will kill coding before it kills testing
I twitch-posted this reply to a Reddit /r/QualityAssurance thread because OP was told that “everyone says” that software testing is “a temporary field”, that “automation is going to kill it in another...
View ArticleThe Sergeants of Software Development
It’s 2017, and guess what? It seems we’re still trying to discover our identity. Still asking questions about what it means to be a tester. It’s perhaps worth offering one possible analogy that I’ve...
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AACID, a Test Mnemonic
I recently attended the local incarnation of the Software Testing Clinic (all glory to Dan, Mark, Del and Tracey) where the topic was Heuristics and Oracles. To my shame, a vast array of test-related...
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The Sucky Answer Heuristic
We all know that there’s no such thing as a stupid question, but there are certainly stupid answers. All this recent talk of heuristics caused my brain to come up with what I’m calling The Sucky Answer...
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Setting up an ELK stack with Docker
Recently I’ve been working in an environment comprised of nearly 60 Docker containers. When things go wrong, as they sometimes do, you can make educated guesses about which logs to look at but...
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Don’t Shift Left; Expand Outwards and Accelerate Failure
My boss sent round this article written in September 2017 from TechTarget about embracing shift-left testing as “the latest theory”. The reason he sent it around was not because we should look into...
View ArticleTest Plans are useless. Test Planning is not.
This article triggered me – in a good way – to describe what I think are the biggest reasons for having a test plan. Obviously, the mileage you get from your test plan will vary, depending on your...
View ArticleWhat can I do about Mr Creep?
To clarify: the title question is absolutely not a “/shrugs/ what can I do?” shirking of responsibility. It is a sincere, open request for guidance. Because I’m worried. I worry that I won’t be able to...
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UKSTAR 2018: A Retrospective
Right, since I’m sat at home on a Wednesday all bunged up with lurgy, let’s try and get some thoughts down about UKSTAR 2018 before I blow them out of my nose. Travelling to That London Down There I’m...
View ArticleBuilding a self-contained environment for testing security (or BASKETS. Kinda)
I’ve been a tester for a while now, and I’ve done most types of testing for a little while. However, there is one really glaring hole in my skillset (among many other, slightly less glaring ones). and...
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BASKETS: Ep. I: Hardware Components
In this post, I’m going to list the hardware that comprises the BASKETS, with some notes on why I chose it and roughly how much it cost. However, before I get into that, it’s worth putting up a quick...
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