testing

Testers who point out project risks are often perceived as "negative" thinkers. Software test consultant Fiona Charles (an optimist by nature and a pessimist by trade) writes about how a culture of unthinking optimism pervades our organizations and our society, and describes some of its detrimental effects on software projects.

Software testing has become a self-governing and an important profession over time. As the software development process becomes a complex activity day by day, the demand to continuously evolve the software testing practices and keeping them aligned to the needs of software engineering is becoming important as well.

Six years ago, not long after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act introduced new levels of oversight to public companies, Linda Hayes speculated about what the legislation might mean for the state of software testing in large, public corporations. "Software QA is no longer an optional function primarily designed to protect developers from their mistakes," Linda wrote, "but is an essential one that protects them from SEC sanctions, civil damages, and an all-expense paid vacation to Club Fed." Now, she takes another look at her own forecast and how Sarbanes-Oxley has changed the testing environment.

Subject matter experts (SMEs) serve important roles on a project and are especially pivotal during the testing phase. In this week's column, Dion Johnson explores how SMEs positively and negatively affect testing and what you can do to make sure you have the right amount of SMEs on your testing team.