I just got my latest copy of Better Software magazine and found an article about the "worth" of testing (article is "Proving our Worth, Quantifying the Value of Testing" by Lee Copeland). In it he discusses the "value" we as testers bring to the Software Development equation, and states that our main goal is to provide "information" to all the other parties associated to a project. I agree totally with this statement.
As testers our main goal is to "find" things out about the system under test and to disemminate the information to the concerned parties on the project. We are in essence the CSI of the software world; we use deductive reasoning and experiments (tests) to try to determine what is going on and what caused it to happen. Then we tell the proper authorities about our findings. As Lee stated in his article, the context and quality of our information is what lends value to the project and that is one of the factors that proves our worth in whole.
Which leads me to the premise of the title of this entry; we (testers) are in the middle of it all. We are the central focal point, or "hub", on the software project wheel. A lot of other groups revolve around us and rely on testing to "interconnect" them. Information flows in and through the Testing/QA group during the project. Now this may sound a bit self-absorbed and egotistical, but it is the truth. And it is one of the reasons testing is one of the more politically hot areas on a project. Testing/QA lives in the limelight and under the microscope, whether we like it or not. Testing/QA is at the center of the process wheel, or eye of the storm as some would say, and we are responsible for holding together the rest of the groups via the information we provide. If we are not good at doing that then the rest of the wheel is unstable and will break apart. And even at times where testing is not responsible for something in the process we still get the blame and heat for it. Price we pay for being in the middle of it all.
So in conjecture to the article, is it really worth all the headaches and pain associated to the work we do on the project and in the information we try to bring to the table? Yeah, because we do a "worthy" job and provide "value" to the project. And in some respects it is fun to be in the middle of it all.
All true. The quality of products produced are most often related to the quality of test and tracking. It is sometimes hard to get people to realize that found bugs are NOT test's fault. UNFOUND bugs are test's fault. (grin)
As you can see from the WebLog title I am a bit sarcastic and cynical about this thing we call Software Testing. Over my years of experience in Software Development and Testing I have seen some very very Dilbert things happen.
Hopefully this Blog will be a good place for you to learn from some of the things I have experienced and allow you to be more effective in your efforts in Software Testing.
• July 18, 2006 - In the middle of it all
I just got my latest copy of Better Software magazine and found an article about the "worth" of testing (article is "Proving our Worth, Quantifying the Value of Testing" by Lee Copeland). In it he discusses the "value" we as testers bring to the Software Development equation, and states that our main goal is to provide "information" to all the other parties associated to a project. I agree totally with this statement.
As testers our main goal is to "find" things out about the system under test and to disemminate the information to the concerned parties on the project. We are in essence the CSI of the software world; we use deductive reasoning and experiments (tests) to try to determine what is going on and what caused it to happen. Then we tell the proper authorities about our findings. As Lee stated in his article, the context and quality of our information is what lends value to the project and that is one of the factors that proves our worth in whole.
Which leads me to the premise of the title of this entry; we (testers) are in the middle of it all. We are the central focal point, or "hub", on the software project wheel. A lot of other groups revolve around us and rely on testing to "interconnect" them. Information flows in and through the Testing/QA group during the project. Now this may sound a bit self-absorbed and egotistical, but it is the truth. And it is one of the reasons testing is one of the more politically hot areas on a project. Testing/QA lives in the limelight and under the microscope, whether we like it or not. Testing/QA is at the center of the process wheel, or eye of the storm as some would say, and we are responsible for holding together the rest of the groups via the information we provide. If we are not good at doing that then the rest of the wheel is unstable and will break apart. And even at times where testing is not responsible for something in the process we still get the blame and heat for it. Price we pay for being in the middle of it all.
So in conjecture to the article, is it really worth all the headaches and pain associated to the work we do on the project and in the information we try to bring to the table? Yeah, because we do a "worthy" job and provide "value" to the project. And in some respects it is fun to be in the middle of it all.
• July 18, 2006 - I like it!
Sounds like fun!
(But I hate to think of bugs as "crimes").
• July 18, 2006 - Bugs are a crime...