Wednesday, July 03, 2002

Say it Loud, Say it Proud! Those who have read Adam Nathan's excellent book on .NET Interop know that it is the most authoritative and comprehensive book on the subject.  What most people may not realize is that Adam is not a program manager or developer or a technical writer.  His is a QA guy. When I think about it, many of the skills that make a good tester also make a good technical author.  These include: curiosity about how things work, strong domain knowledge, and good communication skills.   (I'm just surprised Adam had time enough to do both...) [ronpih I guess...] 2:52:31 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

More QA Thoughts Here are some snippets from a letter I wrote this morning: I have a slightly different point of view. QA provides information on the state of the product, in terms of risks. This information is used by the product management team to determine where to go next in the overall development process. Acceptance testing should be done by ops or the customer (though it can be done by QA if it is spec'd out by ops or the customer, and QA can help them write the spec). Regulatory testing is like acceptance testing. QA should not be the gatekeeper - that leads to high turnover in qa management :-) and What I do is figure out how to run the test effort. I can identify the areas of risk, and staff appropriately. I can measure the ongoing effort and identify problem areas. I can predict how long it will take to test something. I can write killer documentation of the process. I can figure out how to improve the testing process, both on-the-fly and after-the-fact. And I can share with senior managers the benefits and tradeoffs of particular testing approaches ;-) Finally, I do it all while having fun, and making sure the testing team is having fun. All that is not easy, and I could make a long list of specific techniques that I use to do it so that it's not seat-of-the-pants guesstimation. ... Most senior managers don't know what they want from a qa effort. I treat them as my customers, helping them to decide what works best. [A QA Guy's Radio Weblog] 2:45:42 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

More Good Thoughts A first move from testing to QA - teach other folks about testing. Stefan Steurs, on the swtest-discuss list: I have also given up trying to convince managers (some of them with very little hair indeed, you could say they have more hair than brains), it's not the right audience. I go for the bottom line, the developers. They need the help, the tools, the coaching, the explanation, the attention. Developers are the largest audience so my investment in persuading people will have a larger effect when I do it at this level. Developers are at least in 50% of the cases that I am encountering very willing to start using a test framework. They are willing to learn about test scripting, test data preparation, test reporting, because they realise it is going to serve them well. There is about 1 in 4 that doesn't seem to care and never will but I guess that Darwinism, as Boris calls it, will take care of them. It's something I wasn't hired to do. I was hired to do system testing and to lead a team of independent testers but a couple of years ago I started realising it was such a waste of effort if all the testing I did would never lead to a cure. It's easy to deal with the symptoms. Getting the developers to properly unit, integration, or component test is the cure to long and expensive system testing cycles. Of course that fight is not over yet, more can and should be done. Management is getting more and more supportive because they see results. Sometimes you have to steal some time to get these results but that's something they will forgive you. [A QA Guy's Radio Weblog] 2:45:10 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Can QA and Development be Friends? So, you are out for a night on the town with a bunch of friends, and it turns out that you have a piece of spinach caught in your teeth. Who is the better friend: The one that does not tell you about it; the one that announces it to the whole world ("Dude! Gross! You got like Spanish Moss on your incisors!"); or the one that pulls you aside and discretely informs you about the situation? The relationship between QA and Development can be like that. [A QA Guy's Radio Weblog] 2:44:29 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Benefits of Developers Running Through the Test Cases Here are two possible benefits of having developers execute the test cases while the tester watches: 1. The developer learns more about the actual testing process, and may end up being easier to work with. 2. The tester may be exposed to power-user techniques, and become a more efficient user of the system. [A QA Guy's Radio Weblog] 2:44:02 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Last weekend my new fiance and I went to Savannah, Georgia and stayed at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast called the Magnolia Place Inn. We went there for me to propose to her and we had a wonderful experience. One of the many wonderful things that we experienced besides getting engaged was a breakfast that had the best french toast I have ever had. I sent an email to the Inn and requested the recipe for this french toast and they sent it to me. I am sharing this with the world because I think you will love it. Ingredients     2 Granny Smith apples     1 lb. ground sausage(Jimmy Dean regular or with Maple)     thin sandwich bread     eggs     half & half     Procedure     Chop apples into finely diced cubes.  Drizzle lightly with lemon juice to prevent from turning brown.     Brown sausage and drain off grease.  Add apples to sausage and warm apples.  Keep warm until ready to use.     Spoon sausage and apple mix onto one piece of sandwich bread and top with another slice of bread.      Beat eggs and add half and half, whisk to combine.  Milk can be used instead of half and half if you choose to do so. About 6 eggs to 1/2 cup of liquid.     Heat griddle or cooking surface, making sure it is well grease.  Thoroughly coat each sandwich in egg batter and place on hot griddle.  Cook to brown on each side and serve. ENJOY):.     If you have any other questions feel free to e-mail them.  Enjoy your french toast and come back to see us soon.                                     Yours in food,                                         Anna                                         Chef, Magnolia Place Inn  9:48:03 AM    trackback []     Articulate []

That Wish List Thing..... That Wish List Thing.... Someone gave me some great help the other day.  It was one of those cases where a bit of knowledge he had saved me about 3 or 4 hours of just general Linux geeking out and experimenting.  So I just hit his blog, happened to see his wish list and I saw a book on it that I really loved and he wanted.  So I got it for him.  That's really cool to me.  Here's why -- in a lot of computer things, a little bit of knowledge can just save N hours (where N is an integer and usually > than 2) -- and, while I know that people generally don't mind helping, you sometimes just hate to ask.  Either it makes you feel stupid or you just don't want to bother someone.  Knowing that someone has a wish list means that if I feel this way, at least I can do something to compensate someone for their time.  Time is valuable as is knowledge.  Was the book I got for this person the value of the time?  Of course not -- but I don't think that's the point -- it's not about value as much as it is about appreciation.  At least that's the case for me.  For example, my security article continues to get serious traffic despite my writing it about 3 months ago -- and I'm still getting emails asking for more help!  And you know something, I actually try to answer them.  I wish I did a better job -- and I'm working on it -- but the reason I try is that these people show appreciation.  And, like anyone who writes, you get addicted to the positive (or even negative) feedback.  About Wish Lists Have You Made a Wish List for Your Blog Yet? [The FuzzyBlog!] 9:33:22 AM    trackback []     Articulate []

Net radio raises a pirate flag. Technological pieces are falling into place for a pirate radio scene that flies in the face of industry's enforcement efforts, much as file swappers have done for years. [CNET News.com] 9:31:31 AM    trackback []     Articulate []