From D to Q to C with plenty of T

2006-May-18 - One Year Ago

It's now a year since my first post to QA Forums - Ad-Hoc Chaos to Structure

What's happened since then ?
It's not been an easy ride but I wasn't expecting it to be and the signs are now there that things are starting to happen.
The company did employ an experienced QA guy and I've learnt a lot from him and it's been great to have someone to bounce ideas off and who can talk test language.
I'm now spending around 90% of my time testing even though I'm still officially a programmer.
More programmers are now asking for their work to be tested and complaining when it isn't and realising it is A Bad Thing.

A long way to go yet but the first steps have been taken

What I've learned

Perl, Ruby, Watir, php,OpenSta,Web services and Uncle Tom Cobley

Amazon love me

The postman hates me

Do not kick walls, it hurts you more than it hurts them. Remember that change takes time so find less harmful ways to get rid of any frustrations

A blog is a good place to rant.

I've learned that I have a whole lot more to learn

Automating tests adds time and doesn't save it - tools have to be learnt, tests planned, scripts run, results checked

Email is great but talking to people is much better

A steady drip drip drip can produce better results than turning on the tap full blast. Leave testing books lying around, do a bit of educating whenever you hear testing being talked about, volunteer to do some testing for them. Though my work colleagues might describe the drip, drip , drip as being more like Chinese Water Torture

There's a lot of other companies and people out there in the same situation

An elephant is best eaten in small pieces

There are only 24 hours in day

And maybe most importantly - I've learned that testing IS my home.

Other things I've learned

The most expensive coffee is produced by the droppings from a Palm Toddy Cat which lives on a diet of alcoholic tree sap and coffee berries

Why panda's have a thumb and the significance of this

Old tour T-shirts never die, they live on in the back of testers wardrobes

How William Shatner Changed The World

Acknowledgements

Thanks to SB for making sure I don't try to run with one leg and introducing me to Perl.
Thanks to TA for being an invaluable ally in the change process.
Thanks to everyone at QA forums for the good advice and good chat.
And thanks to LMB for being my best YAC.

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