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Tools and Automation for the Software Development Lifecycle 13 July 2006 In this issue: - A Word with the Wise: Choosing Performance Testing with Scott Barber - What's Happening at StickyMinds.com - Featured Tool: QAInspect from SPI Dynamics - Outside the Toolbox: UberOrbs **************************************************************** ADVERTISEMENT: "Combating Hackers in QA"- FREE Webcast from SPI Dynamics Learn how QA professionals are preventing Web Application attacks and how you can lead your organization to secure software. During this Webcast, you will learn how a hacker can exploit your security defects, how to test for SQL Injection and Session Hijacking and why QA is critical to the security process. Click here to register and view: https://download.spidynamics.com/registration/qa_webcast.asp **************************************************************** A Word with the Wise: Choosing Performance Testing with Scott Barber by Joseph McAllister Every kid eventually puts some thought into the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" For PerfTestPlus CTO Scott Barber, who specializes in context-driven performance testing and analysis for distributed multi-user systems, the answer was not "performance tester." He planned to follow in the footsteps of his father, an industrial arts teacher, and sought an ROTC- scholarship-funded degree in civil engineering. In his junior year of college, though, Scott learned that his first years with the Army Corps of Engineers would involve digging foxholes for infantry rather than building bridges with the Seabees. "I decided that if I was going to be crossing the front lines, I'd much rather be carrying heavy weaponry than heavy shovels," he says. He became a maintenance officer, with additional duties as an automation officer--essentially fixing computers. One day, while complaining about outdated software, he was serendipitously overheard by someone there to evaluate a replacement system and was recruited into a government contracting position. Later, while weighing his career options, a friend offered Scott a job as a performance engineer with a promise of "Don't worry, you'll like it." "From that day, I've been doing performance testing," Scott says. "What I love about it is it spans every part of the software lifecycle. It dials into every discipline from development to business analysis." Load-generation tools, which most people call performance- testing tools, are just one half of the equation, Scott says. The collected data often also requires automated analysis or "performance monitoring." "As far as buying a tool and executing all your tests in house versus outsourcing, basically the first heuristic is this: If you've got one big performance test, the first one is going to be cheaper to outsource," Scott says. "Your break-even point, depending on what tool you choose, what your in-house resources are, and the price of a performance tester in your market, is somewhere between two and three performance-testing projects if you're in a software development shop. That's a huge ballpark." Regular performance testing may call for an in-house process, while testing just once or once in a while may be better served through outsourcing, according to Scott. If you choose in-house testing, Scott has a few recommendations for evaluating potential tools. Foremost is that you demo the tool on your application, particularly if your product is unusual or new technology. "Virtually every tool out there does a good job against the type of application it was originally designed to test, but we develop with cutting-edge technology," he says. "Make sure that the tool that you're getting supports your application." Also, don't pay for unnecessary features and support for communications protocols that you'll never use. Finally, be sure that your performance tester can, as Scott says, "make that tool sing"--let the tester guide the tool-evaluation process. Of course, as with most software tools, one must also contemplate commercial or open source. The big differences are that each open source tool only works against a limited number of applications or communications protocols, and they are limited in terms of what Scott calls the "nice-to-haves"--extras or add-on features. "When it comes to actually generating load, the difference in accuracy and in response time from enterprise pay tools and free open source--that's not the point to compare," he says. "Obviously some free and open source tools are going to be better than others. Some enterprise tools are better than others for your particular application. At that point, accuracy of load and response time is something that you need to evaluate against your particular application, as opposed to generally across whether you're paying for a tool or not." Scott sees brighter days ahead for the field of performance testing. He believes the market no longer views performance testing as a nice-to-have option, but rather as a necessity. The industry, he says, "is finally starting to accept as a whole that performance testing isn't just functional testing on steroids or in 3-D. It is a unique set of skills." To read more of what Scott Barber has to say, search for his articles on http://www.stickyminds.com. jmcallister@sqe.com **************************************************************** What's Happening at StickyMinds.com Got a question? Try asking your software-testing peers by posting your query on our Discussion Boards. Join in at: http://www.stickyminds.com/forum.asp?tt=Exchange+Messages. If the Discussion Board messages aren't enough to get your point across, why not post an article or paper on StickyMinds.com? You can upload your work for possible publication on StickyMinds.com at: http://www.stickyminds.com/submitstuff.asp. Supercharge your access to StickyMinds.com with a PowerPass! Use it to open doors to the complete Better Software and STQE magazine archive, conference materials from every major Software Quality Engineering event, online reference books, and discounts on all Software Quality Engineering products and training. Get charged up today for only $225/year! ---> http://www.StickyMinds.com/powerpass.asp **************************************************************** Featured Tool: QAInspect Vendor: SPI Dynamics Contact: 115 Perimeter Center Place, N.E. Suite 1100 Atlanta, GA 30346 Phone: 1-866-774-2700 Fax: 678-781-4850 Tool URL: http://www.spidynamics.com/products/qainspect/index.html Description: SPI Dynamics' Quality Assurance products for IBM and Mercury users enable QA professionals to incorporate fully automated Web application security testing into the overall test management process without the need for specialized security knowledge and without the risk of slowing aggressive product release schedules. Now, IBM and Mercury users can conduct and manage both functional testing and security testing from a single platform. **************************************************************** Outside the Toolbox: UberOrbs From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: "uber-", prefix: - being a superlative example of its kind or class - to an extreme or excessive degree "orb", noun: - a spherical body From the Sticky ToolLook dictionary: "UberOrbs", toy: - a noise-making, time-consuming, creativity-prodding tool that is likely to be found outside the typical software development toolbox. Check out the UberOrbs at http://www.stickyminds.com/uberorbs. Watch the videos to hear their unusual sounds. Know of any fun tools, toys, or other items that might be slightly outside the software development toolbox? Tell us about them by sending an email to jmcallister@sqe.com. **************************************************************** ADVERTISEMENT: Attend The Greatest Software Testing Conference on Earth STARWEST 2006 International Conference on Software Testing Analysis & Review October 16-20, 2006 | The Disneyland Hotel | Anaheim, California Register before September 15 to Save $200! http://www.sqe.com/starwest **************************************************************** Sticky ToolLook is an extension of StickyMinds.com and Better Software magazine--and a reminder that your "online resource for building better software" is just a click away at http://www.stickyminds.com. _________________________________________________ Subscriber Services You are receiving this issue of Sticky ToolLook as part of your StickyMinds.com membership, Better Software magazine subscription, or Sticky ToolLook subscription. We hope this publication will be a useful and enjoyable benefit. 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