Test Planning

By implementing configuration flags as part of the initial stages of development, engineers imbue all new features with the capability to leverage system-level strategies, such as multivariate testing, beta testing, and “emergency toggles.” In this article, Noah Sussman describes some battle-tested strategies to implement and leverage configuration flags in production.

Like quality management a decade ago, project risk management has become such a “check-the-box” exercise in some organizations that vocal critics are clamoring for its elimination as pointless overhead. In this article, Payson Hall suggests that you consider a grown-up conversation with the leaders in your organization about the capabilities and limitations of your risk management efforts.

When you are told by someone that something is not testable, take a deep breath and engage the person in a conversation. The conversation should not be about about why something is not testable—not directly. It should focus on understanding what someone is experiencing, explore different interpretations of information, and help make the untestable testable.

There are only a few reasons why websites and applications go down under load. If organizations know up front what these top performance land mines are, they can avoid them by testing their websites the right way, before they go live.