2008-Nov-9 - Testing website load time - "WebWait"

The test result may not be authority, but using the same criterion to test every time, it is convenient enough.

WebWait is a tool for testing specified website load time.

If a site loads slowly, user will soon go to other alternative sites. To prevent that from happening, sites need to do accurate check on speed before release.

It is good to use this tool to compare the results from your own site and other sites.

Further more, you can set multiple tests interval. e.g. test 5 times every 60 seconds, and it will calculate the average load time automatically (to avoid accidental test result).

To make a comfortable site, it is a good idea to make use of this tool.

2008-Oct-7 - Drag & Drop, Simple task management tool "Scrumy"

I think this really simple task management tool would be good for Agile development.
Scrumy does not require member login, and supports simply drag & drop tasks.
It's very easy to access, just add the project name after Scrumy's domain name and that's it.
Following that is to add stories and tasks. Drag & drop tasks to move between To Do, In Progress, Verify, and Done.
It is clear to anybody what the tasks are and where they are. Different owners have different colors on their task sheets. It's amazing.
Since there's no member login requirement, security is quite loose. But it is pretty convenient for quick projects within a team.

2008-Sep-29 - Checking broken links under specific URL - "Dead-Links"

Dead-Links is a simple tool that helps you to check whether the links to the page under the URL you specified are broken.

If some links on your website are broken, it may not only embarrass you, but also lose some users or customers.

There are similar tools already, but this one has an explicit domain and simple interface, it's convenient to use.

Although it takes some time to check, it's not bad to do periodic check on your own blog or site.

2008-Sep-5 - Screen Capture Software linking with Bug Tracking Systems - "Bug Shooting"

This is a good concept. Improvements on the other screen capture tools I used.

Bug Shooting is basically screen capture software. The selling point is that it can add comments and markings onto the screenshot, and send to the bug tracking system immediately.

It is true that when reporting a bug, attaching a commented screenshot is helpful, but sometimes the process is troublesome. So this tool manages the whole process and makes bug submitting easier.

Here's a short tutorial for the tool.

2008-Aug-27 - My tool kit

UI test tools:

     QuickTest Pro (QTP)

     IE7 Readiness Toolkit -- for IE7 compatibility test

     Sprajax -- assesses the security of AJAX-enabled web applications

Installation test tools:

     InCtrl5 (windows) -- monitors the changes made to the system

     SciTe for AutoIt (windows) -- auto-installation

Resource leak test tools:

     Valgrind (linux) -- memory leak, etc.

     Rational Purify (windows) -- memory leak

Stress test tools:

    Canned HEAT (CH3) (windows)

    stress-0.18.9 (linux) -- stress on cpu, memory, disk space, etc. 

Test Coverage tools:

     Bullseye (windows / linux)

     Cobertura -- based on jcoverage. Used for java program.

     Rational PureCoverage (windows)

Performance test tools:

     Jmeter (windows / linux) -- open source.

     LoadRunner (windows)

System monitors:

     CurrPorts (windows) -- list of opened ports and the processes.

     Informer (windows) -- reports system status.

     TCPView (windows) -- list of running processes and more details.

Data capturers:

     HttpWatch

     Sniffer pro

Test cases optimizing tools:

     allpairs -- constructs a reasonably small set of test cases that include all pairings of each value of each of a set of parameters. Supports diagnostic output.

     pict -- similar to allpairs. Supports sophisticated options.

Remote control:

     PsTools (windows) -- PsExec: execute programs on remote systems; PsFile: shows / closes a list of files on a system that are opened remotely; etc.

     Remote Administrator (windows)

     Putty (linux), Pietty (linux, cn / jp locale) 

Test Automation Framework:

     STAF

Installshield:

     PackageForTheWeb -- e.g. pack a hotfix

     IExpress

Project management:

     WBS + PERT + MS Project

     WBS -- for constructing plan and schedule

     PERT -- for estimating most possible ending date

     Project -- for making project plan, tracing and controling progress