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News Center
Read our list
of the latest news about all things
related to software development and
defects that made the headlines...
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Quote of the Day
“Good manners
sometimes means simply putting up with
other people's bad manners.”
~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr. |
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What's Happening at StickyMinds.com
Web Seminar
Successful Agile Planning: An
Iteration How-to
Sponsored by Rally
Speaker Ken Clyne will
discuss techniques for agile
iterations such as writing user
stories and estimating, effective
iteration planning, and more! If
your team is leaving behind the
pains of traditional development
practices to scale an agile
adoption, you won't want to miss
this Web seminar! Join us Tuesday,
July 14, at 2 p.m. ET.

White Paper
Case Study: Ensuring Quality of
Outsourced Java Development
Sponsored by Agitar
One of the world’s top fifty
banks has adopted AgitarOne
technology for delivering generated
unit tests for their Java software
development. The bank services
millions of customers and is a
leading provider of current
accounts, savings, personal loans,
credit cards, mortgages, etc.
AgitarOne was able to substantially
reduce the cost of software
development and significantly
improve the software quality
process.
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Content Pointers
Understanding Software Performance Testing: Part 4
by Dale Perry
Most people don't fully understand the complexities and scope of a
software performance test. Too often performance testing is assessed
in the same manner as functional testing and, as a result, fails
miserably. In the final installment of this four-part series Dale
examines what it takes to properly plan, analyze, design, and
implement a basic performance test. This is not a discussion of
advanced performance techniques or analytical methods; these are the
basic problems that must be addressed in software performance
testing.

Does Exploratory Testing Have a Place on Agile Teams?
by Johanna Rothman
Exploratory testing—questioning and learning about the product as
you design and execute tests rather than slavishly following
predefined scripts—makes sense for many projects. But does it make
sense for agile projects? In this column, Johanna Rothman examines
how exploratory testing might work on an agile project.

Sixty Steps in the Right Direction
by Michele Sliger
Michele Sliger uses a simple exercise to exemplify the
changes self-organized teams cause in any company, especially with
the project manager. In this column, Michele explains how to conduct
this exercise and how to review and use the results to improve work
relationships and communication. Above all, this exercise should
help your whole organization understand how everyone's knowledge of
a project's initiatives and goals affects the project's success.
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The Latest from our Multimedia Files
Buccaneer Scholar James Bach at STAREAST
2009
In this video from STAREAST
2009, tester and author James Bach talks
about the context-driven school of
software testing, his latest book, and
how both the history of ideas and the
discovery of oxygen can be connected to
software testing.

STARWEST 2009 - Software Testing
Analysis & Review Conference
Attend the Greatest Software Testing Conference on
Earth!
October 5 - 9, 2009 | Disneyland Hotel | Anaheim,
California
Mark your calendar now for STARWEST
2009. Why attend the world’s largest
software testing conference? With
various top-notch educational and
networking opportunities, we are sure to
meet your testing needs. If you only
have the opportunity to attend one
conference this year, why not attend the
biggest, best, and broadest in testing?
Join us at STARWEST
2009! * Register by July 13, 2009, and
receive a $50 Amazon.com gift card! *
http://www.sqe.com/STARWEST
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PowerPass pointer
Go, Team!
by Patrick Bailey
Fed up with good-ol'-boy salesmen, a manufacturing mindset, and
just-get-it-out-the-door directions? A little assertiveness, a few ounces of
patience, a dash of charm, a lot of leadership, and some attitude adjustment by
everyone might help. Read how one manager made the world a better place to work
one small victory at a time.
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Our Take
Apple Danish with a Side of Meddle
I was shopping with my family this weekend at one of those giant warehouse
stores—one of those places where you can get whatever you need—super-sized
form—from mammoth flat screen TVs to one-hundred gallon vats of mayonnaise. We
try very hard to stick to our list so we will actually save money and not fall
victim to their true purpose that is to make us think we’re saving money while
purchasing ninety pints of yogurt so that all but ten pints of it can rot. We’ve
also joked that we always save the cost of at least one meal by hitting all the
sample stations set out when we shop. And that is how I met an interesting
character. We’ll call her “Pat,” mostly because it’s her actual name.
Pat was manning the orange juice and apple danish sample cart. A great
suggestion for a family breakfast if you’re intentions are to weigh your
children down with sugar and trans fats. Needless to say, Pat’s cart was mobbed.
I took one danish sample and one juice sample off of her cart and handed them to
my 3-year-old who was very excited to see a sample glazed in sugar and frosted
to boot. I parked our cart off to the side and waited for my husband who was
deciding between a forty-pound bag of coffee or a twenty-pound bag. In the
meantime, the crowd around Pat’s cart dispersed and I can only guess that she
got a little bored. As my daughter was swallowing her last bit of the gooey
pastry, Pat looked at her, extended a crooked, wrinkled finger, and croaked,
“You’re welcome young lady, which is what people say after YOU say thank you.”
Let me be the first to admit that I should have said thank you. Pleases and
thank yous are important to me, so I see the point this lady was trying to make.
It’s just how she chose to make it. Her beef was with me, not my daughter. And,
in the mob of people pushing and shoving their way toward the danishes I was
more concerned about moving quickly.
Regardless, if you know me and you’re reading this you’re thinking, “Uh oh, Pat,
that was a bad choice.” I’ve never really been one to back down from a
challenge. But being a parent is, at its core, a daily lesson in learning to
pick your battles. So I stood there looking at this woman in a hairnet that was
pointing, rudely and inappropriately, at my child and I thought about telling
her what’s what. I thought about finding a manager. I thought about making a
scene, but ultimately I decided it wasn’t worth it. I simply pushed my cart and
moved on. I hope it made Pat feel better to admonish us, but between you and me,
I think she would have felt even better had she decided to pick her battles. I
know I did.
I find at work and at home that picking your battles is a great credo to live
by. It’s a lot easier to let everything get to you than it is to make the
decision to let something go. How has picking your battles helped you? Email me
and let me know.
Until next time ... live well and build better software.
Holly Bourquin
hbourquin@sqe.com
For more articles on time and project management,
software development, and testing, peruse the
StickyLetter
archive.
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