test techniques
Articles
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Taking the Negativity out of Negative Testing Everyone on the software team has the same goal of delivering the best product they can, so letting testers discover bugs is always good—the more bugs found, the better! But misconceptions often lead to testers getting the bad rap of "breaking" the software. It's a tester's job to think like a user. Developers and stakeholders might call that negative testing, but the result is a better product, and that’s all positive. Let's change the way we talk about testing. |
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Testing AI Systems: Not as Different as You’d Think AI-based tools have transformed from a vague, futuristic vision into actual products that are used to make real-life decisions. Still, for most people, the inner workings of deep-learning systems remain a mystery. If you don’t know what exactly is going on while the input data is fed through layer after layer of a neural network, how are you supposed to test the validity of the output? It’s not magic; it’s just testing. |
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The Simple Rules of Software Testing Simple rules are great for guiding us through an overwhelming workload. Sometimes complicated solutions are necessary, but simple rules often outperform complex algorithms, making them more efficient than sophisticated, difficult flows. They can also break down big goals into practical daily guidelines testers can follow to perform more effectively. Let’s see how simple rules can be applied in software testing. |
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An Automated Approach to Regression Testing Testing every single thing isn't feasible, so regression testing should be holistic in verification while focused in scope. A good goal is to ensure no regression issue is introduced into a critical business flow. This endeavor can benefit from automation. An automated testing approach specific to reducing regression issues can go a long way toward building a good client relationship and high brand value. |
Better Software Magazine Articles
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Using Agile and DevOps to Achieve Quality by Design When software nears completion, it is the wrong time to focus on quality. Product delivery improves if you invest in a plan, validate in small increments, and focus on continuous testing. |
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QA Is More Than Being a Tester QA testers often take on more of a role than just testing software code. When the team needs help, QA should lend a hand in assisting with business analysis, customer communication, user experience, and user advocacy. |
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Supporting Continuous Testing with Automation Create tests that can be used in a continuous testing environment, build the right number of tests, and don’t fall victim to the mistaken belief that everything can be automated. |
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The Unspoken Truth about IoT Test Automation The internet of things (IoT) continues to proliferate as connected smart devices become critical for individuals and businesses. Even with test automation, performing comprehensive testing can be quite a challenge. |
Interviews
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What Testers Can Learn from Airline Safety Improvements: An Interview with Peter Varhol and Gerie Owens
Video
Technologist and evangelist Peter Varhol and Gerie Owens, a test architect and certified ScrumMaster, discuss their STARWEST presentation, “What Aircrews Can Teach Testers about Testing.” They talk about how testers can apply airline safety practices to their teams’ delivery of high-quality applications through complementary expertise, collaboration, and decision-making. They also explain how blind deference to authority and automation can be detrimental to a testing team, and how to use everyone’s skills to achieve success. |
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Testing Your Metal: An Interview with Paul Grizzaffi
Video
Paul Grizzaffi, principal automation architect at Magenic, discusses his keynote presentation, which focuses on changing your perspective to add value and determining where you are spending your time so you can evaluate what can be automated. |
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Achieving a Balance between Manual and Automated Testing: An Interview with Jim Holmes
Video
Jim Holmes, executive consultant at Pillar Technology, discusses tools and methods to effectively communicate with management your goals for balancing manual with automated testing. |
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Why Manual Testers Shouldn't Fear Automation: An Interview with Chris Loder
Video
In this interview, Chris Loder, automation architect at InGenius Software, addresses the misconception that the goal of automation is to replace manual testers. |
Conference Presentations
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API Testing: Going from Manual to Automated
Slideshow
API testing can be challenging—especially for the uninitiated. Ever wonder what makes an API test great? Patrick Poulin will arm you with an understanding of the benefits of automating API testing over doing it manually. Patrick will review the tools landscape and show common errors people make while creating API tests. He'll discuss the steps required to completely automate the entire testing framework for APIs, and show how it is simpler than most people assume. Leave this session with an understanding of how to automate API testing and overcome the fear of the unknown. |
Patrick Poulin
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Testing as a Service: Forming a Service-Oriented Testing Team
Slideshow
Companies today must respond to the ever-increasing demand for delivering products in a fast-paced digital environment. As a result, many traditional testing departments are being dismantled, teams are being split up, and individual testers are being distributed across multiple projects or functional teams. This transition can lead to workflows that are awkward and siloed, with team members trying to figure out what exactly to do with the tester. Noha Gomaa thinks there must be a better way to handle the transition. Noha champions "testing as a service" to many project teams. She helps them implement testing in different lifecycle models for major infrastructure transformations and highly custom, product-specific projects. Noha will share how service models can work in any organization. |
Noha Gomaa
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The Dell EMC Journey in the Age of Smart Assistants
Slideshow
Dell EMC is driving to optimize and reimagine their testing practices with the application of data-driven smart assistants, powered by analytics and machine learning. At a macro level, Geoff Meyer will highlight the opportunities across the product engineering and testing landscapes that are ripe for the application of analytics and AI. Key ingredients in moving toward solutions that matter are the identification of organization-specific pain points, their prioritization, and the availability and cleanliness of essential data. Geoff will share the process of experimentation, staffing, and implementation that his team approached these new opportunities with, and then delve into the smart assistants they’ve created to automate deep-thinking, cognitive-based testing tasks. |
Geoff Meyer
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Timeless Testing Skills for Modern Testers
Slideshow
As testers in today’s world of agile and DevOps, we are challenged to champion quality in new ways and to develop innovative test approaches that focus on customer value. It's important to bring creativity as well as technical expertise to our test techniques so that we can make our most valuable contributions. We determine both what to test and how to test, and we test jointly with developers. We assess risk and communicate it to our teams and stakeholders through our stories. Our ability to innovate comes from not only our technical skills, but also from our skills in communication, collaboration, and creativity. Join Gerie Owen and Peter Varhol for a discussion about the key skills that modern testers need in order to be innovative. Using real-life examples, Gerie and Peter wil show how we can create intersections of creativity, both individually and as a team. |
Gerie Owen
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