Wednesday 19 November 2008 - Says who?

So I'm sitting here on my lunch break, burning my tongue on my baked potato with Chilli which will be followed by a quick bit of discreet trouser loosening.  I'm browsing through random test sites.  I stop to read this: Software Testing Best Pratices and Tips . 

It starts off with: 'Following are some of the software testing best practices followed
by experienced software testers in the industry today:'. Fair enough. Says who? That sentence is not followed up with anything like 'These best practices were collected via questionnaires posted to the top 5 most popular testing forums' or 'They were collected by surveying testers at such and such expo and convention'.  So........following on with my train of thought this is actually one persons list of best practices and tips and nothing to do with anybody else. 

I'm not going to start in on best practices, there's plenty of discussion regarding best practices already out there so I'm going to bite my tongue, or rather my fingers.

I however love, absolutely love the fact that the following is a best practice followed by experienced software testers in the industry today: Start testing the application by intend of finding bugs/errors.

...........I don't really know what to write after that, it's not the complete paragraph, I think dear reader you should go read the whole article.

I could go on about the article it but I think it should be read by yourself, share your thoughts.

I would however like to write a best practice for the article writer, there are 20 hints and tips so I'd like to add tip 21.

21) During and after writing up anything run a spell checker.  The article title is copied directly from the site.

Tuesday 14 October 2008 - Hmm where to start...where to start?

Sunday 5 October 2008 - Price Comparison. Hmmmmmm, no I'm fine thanks.

So I was checking out laptops on Friday and ebuyer have a price comparison tool on their site advertising 'Find the best deals with Price commparison that's quick and simple!'. So I clicked on it, this is what I got. The Price Comparison tool hasn't picked up the price change.  I thought 'maybe there's a delay, not the best idea but who am I to judge?'

I checked again just now, Sunday night. Think I might just check up on pricings myself for the moment thanks.

Wednesday 1 October 2008 - IE8 Beta 2

Wednesday 10 September 2008 - Can't work well under Waterfall or V Model won't work well in Agile. Discuss!

Friday 5 September 2008 - Internal Tech Tester update

A little while ago I posted about a possible internal role, I never actually heard anything back although I'm not too surprised as I had mentioned that I was looking at roles on the 'outside'.

I'm still not convinced they know what they are looking for, everytime I've seen the job spec it's changed.

Personally, if it were upto me, I would break up sections of what they want the Technical Tester to do and assign an area to a tester.

Anyway, a while back I also mentioned a role that was offered but fell through, last time I spoke to them they mentioned that Sept would be when the ball would start rolling again, I'll wait and see.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Thursday 14 August 2008 - What's with the test tools simplification? Where's it stop?

Posted this on the softwaretestingclub.com forum, thought I make as well make it a blog entry too:

What's with the test tools simplification? Where's it stop? All the tools or posts about tools seem to be doing their best to simplify to the point that everything is point and click and record and playback. Is that actually going to simplify things?

These are some points from the marketing spiel for Original Software's automation tool; TestDrive Gold:

Easily create test scenarios through a simple point-and-click interface.
Execute a complete regression test in hours not days, complete with full results, automatic data rules, and analysis.
Free of any coding language: there is no complex scripting language to learn.
Self-healing scripts - run your existing scripts over revised or updated versions of your application without hours of re-scripting.
Complex decision-linked tests can be built that integrate with the server functions to give a complete approach to testing.

OriginalSoftware has taken the simplification to the point that you can't actually view the script (another thing! Is it still a 'script' if it's all graphical?).

There is a post on linkedin (http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/software-development/TCH...) about creating a test engine and again:

Testers should not need to know a programming language

I think this is a bad thing, IMHO testers should be aiming at knowing a language, not necessarily to the point of being able to code complicated systems but at least to be able to read sections of code and gain an understanding.
BTW I write as someone who does not know a language (but will one day).

I'm not sure but I think that's half a discussion post, half a rant! :-)

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Monday 4 August 2008 - Test Management Tool - Testuff 2

Update for Testuff available.

So I responded to Ido at Testuff with a video of the refresh wiping out defects logged and it seems like it's related to another issue and they had already fixed it in the new update.

I did however notice;

• The defects raised are date and time stamped however the time actually changed to an hour earlier, IE logged a defect at 16:00, it's visible with the correct timestamp for 20-30secs then changed to read 15:00.
• The defect description actually displays the description of the last defect viewed, even on logging of a new defect and regardless of which project is being looked at, the refresh does not refresh the description. You have to click onto the defect for the defect description to populate correctly.
• The update came down automatically, this would be a no no for alot of firms.
• The setup file has no version details.

Details passed onto Testuff.

BTW, if anybody is reading this and thinking 'hmm, he's checking things out for free!! The fool! I'm gonna send him stuff!'

I'm just taking a break in my day and the above took all of 5mins to come across.

Testuff have also very kindly linked to my blog on their website.  Woohoo! I'm link worthy! Ok, so it's only because I've mentioned their software but shhhh, let me have my moment.  I'd like to thank my parents who had too much wine one starry night many many moons ago and who made this all possible.  I'd also like to thank the academy and I'd also like to thank myself, go me.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Wednesday 23 July 2008 - Test Management Tool - Testuff

So Ido from www.testuff.com posted about their Test Management Tool which is currently a Beta version:

http://www.sqaforums.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=497607&an=0&page=0#Post497607

He asked us to have a look.

I've only had a quick look but;
Video Recorder - Annoying you can only play the last video recorded, should be able to browse them and select the video.
Login screen - Top left of the login screen displays 'Connecting to https://service.testuff.com'
Bug Reporter - When you click 'Submit Bug' the 'Submitting bug' progress bar flashes up for a second but then nothing happens, you're left with the 'Bug Reporter' screen and no 'Bug submitted' or anything message and your options are to try submitting again or 'Cancel' or close using the cross.
- The 'Cancel' button doesn't give you a prompt before cancelling.
- 'Bug Reporter' launches behind 'Test Runner'.
Submitting a bug and recording - If I submit a bug while recording the recording stops but the recorded screen area brackets remain until the video recorder is closed.
- If I've recorded a video and then launched two 'Bug Reporter' screens the video is attached to both.
- There's no option to detach/remove a video from the defect raised.
Back up to Excel - I can back up to Excel, how do I perform a restore? If it's a reporting tool rather then a back up it should probably be renamed.
Icons - We're testers, finding defects is a good thing for us to do, the 'Defects' icon should be happy.
Refresh - And my favourite; using the 'Refresh' button actually wipes out any defects raised and you're back to the 'Raise your first defect' window.
Testuff web service - Reads: Version: 0.9.1[2070]
Started: 2008-07-16 13:41:14 UTC
My Testuff version is 0.9.2[2142]

I'm hoping that Refresh button thing is only happening to me, because a test management tool which has made it as far as a Beta version with a bug where all the defects are wiped is just a scary thought.

The look of the tool has raised a view eyebrows, I know the market they are going for but by going with the look they currently have they will unnecessarily alienate potential customers.

One of my suggestions was changable skins which I think would work well and be a bigger selling point for their market.

Anyway, if you have a chance, have a look and let Ido know your thoughts.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Tuesday 22 July 2008 - Internal Technical Tester role

So I've applied for an internal role for a technical tester, I've been looking for a challenging role where I can improve on my technical skills so this would be excellent.  I'll have to see how I go.

It would be a challenge, tool eval and selection, setting up the environment, beginning work on the regression packs, involving other testers, maintenance, etc.

I'm not actually 100% sure what they are expecting from the role and from bringing in automation, if I get an interview I'm going to find out what's expected and what they are looking to achieve, how much support and from whom(?) this role will have.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Wednesday 9 July 2008 - How the third interview went.

I've realized that I never posted how the third interview went.  It went very well.  I was offered a role as a test consultant, all was good in the life of the testing hobbit known as Tony Bruce.  For a short while anyway. 

I was verbally offered a role on a Friday with a few details and told the paperwork would be out the next week.  I then received a call on the following Monday and was informed that a client had frozen a number of projects which in turn freed up a number of testers which in turn stopped my paperwork being sent out.  The testers need to be allocated out to clients/projects before my offer would be sent out.

Understandly frustrating for me but what can you do?  Things happen.  So I decided to wait and see.  This all happened a few weeks ago and they haven't been able to really tell me anything concrete and so while I haven't been actively looking for work, I have been taking calls from recruitment agencies and the like and so have some other things on the go.

Here we go again.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Monday 7 July 2008 - Exploratory Testing in practice.

Do you use ET? If so do you use it in a way more similar to (my understanding of) AdHoc testing, IE randomly going down a path? Or, do you use Charters, sessions, scenes dashboards or some other method?

I think ET is a useful method which can add alot of value but I'm curious as to how it's actually used out there in the big bad testing world.  And how many testers are actually 'AdHoc'ing' and calling it ET or vice versa.

IMHO I think most good testers will use ET just as an offset of testing, maybe not in a 'formal' or 'structured' way and in most causes it probably more resembles AdHoc testing.

I probably do abit of both, although I'm not using the 'tools', in some cases I'll have an idea in my head to follow through and in others I'll just randomly be trying different things.

I'm an ExploringHoc Tester! Are you?

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Monday 7 July 2008 - Opensource - VirtualBox

I just installed VirtualBox, I've only had a quick play with it, created my first image and installed WinXP but so far, I'm impressed!

It's small, seem stable and looks like it'll be a very valuable tool, I'm going to play with it a bit more and report back.

You can get it here: http://www.virtualbox.org/

If you've used VirtualBox, please let me know your thoughts, thanks.

Monday 19 May 2008 - Testers reviewing/reading code.

So I'm abit confused, apparently there are discussions in the Testing World as to whether or not it's a good idea for testers to review code.

It's something touched briefly on a few blogs I read recently: http://blogs.msdn.com/imtesty/archive/2008/03/11/do-testers-do-code-reviews.aspx#comments

and http://www.goldb.org/goldblog/

I'm sure the discussion is on a load of forums and blogs everywhere but those are the two I read most recently.

What I don't understand is why anybody would question whether or not it is a good idea for testers to review code.  Fixing an error before it makes it to a build seems like a wicked idea! Imagine that! Fixing a problem before it's a problem! You could be known as a psychic software tester. I! Tony Bruce am the worlds first Psychic Software Tester! Call 1800 Magic Testing now!

Well, the first apart from the all the men and women testers who already have the ability or skillset to read and review code.

And I guess that's what and where it comes down to, testers with the skillset to be able to review, not just read code.

I aim to be able to review code but how useful is it going to be if I just learn to read code?  I maybe able to spot one or two things but for it to be a useful practice will I first need to have experience with development?

Anybody been there? Done that? Can you shed some light? How have your experiences been?

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Friday 16 May 2008 - So now I have a third interview

So, I had my second interview, apparently did well and would be a good match for the firm, although it wasn't really technical, which was what I was expecting and I'm missing experience with test management tools, specifically Quality Centre. 
Although we were in agreement that Quality Centre would take about a day, maybe two for somebody to pick up so I'm not too sure why it would matter that I'm missing experience with something that will take me a day to pick up, but anyway, it's all good in the hood.
I now have a third interview! It never ends! Better then not having any though!  We'll sort that out on Monday.
I actually have an interview at another place next week as well.  I am just in demand! Go me.
I am a testing and quality assurance king. There can be only one! Queue Queen aaaaaaaaand 'Here we are.born to be testers.
Were the quality keepers of the universe.
Here we belong.testing to meet requirements.
In a world with the darkest code.
And here we are.were the testers of the universe.'
So anyway, who knows I may end up having to decided between two different positions, one is more QA'ey with abit more cash and looks like it could be interesting and the other one should offer a wider range of experience and also be interesting.  Or I may end up at square one and have to start job hunting again.
I'll see what happens next week.
On another note, I was asked the other day to check out the new CD install for the software module I'm working on.  Install part worked OK but the messages were full of spelling mistakes and so on.  I got a response of 'the things you noted are interesting'.  I don't really know what that is supposed to mean, I'll have to follow it up on Monday, are they going to fix the mistakes or what?

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Thursday 8 May 2008 - I have a second interview.

So, I have a second interview for a role which will include a technical test.  I have a family, a home, pets, financial and personal responsibilities, I'm not an Einstein or a Hawking but I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent, I don't eat dirt or drink washing up liquid, in other words, I'm a functioning adult, yet mention the words test or exam and my sphincter just tightens up with an almost audible whooshing sound. 

Not good for somebody that's a tester! I'm whooshing 10-50times a day!

OK so obviously I mean test in relation to me having to take a test.

I don't really understand the point of a test at an interview, well I do and I don't, I mean they want to get an idea of your skill set, fine, but on the other hand in my day to day job I will have colleagues around me, old colleagues a phone call or e-mail away, I will have books, and I'll have net access, if I don't know something I will have the resources to find out about it.  IMHO putting me in a room with a list of questions to answer is not really going to give anybody an idea of how I'd perform in a role.  To me it makes more sense to go through some scenarios from actual projects and throw in a few things, like.... I don't now, writing an SQL query or something but using a PC rather then pen and paper.

Anyway, I'll have to wait and see how I get on.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Wednesday 7 May 2008 - The job hunt

So as I sit here listening Anthony Kiedis telling me to suck his kiss I'm pondering the wonderment of looking for a new job. Trying to decipher job descriptions, talking to recruiters who just talked to you 10mins ago but can't remember anything about you, phone interviews which take just as much time as an initial face to face so...... what's the point? Just have a face to face?

Thanks to a couple of great people on sqaforums my CV is in much better condition, previously it was still directed towards support roles, extremely long winded and more directed to just getting past recruiters looking for the buzz words.  It now actually has some useful content and is down to 3 pages compared to the 5 I had before.

I've become a little bit more savvy, or at least I think so, in looking for a job, thinking about long term plans rather then short term gains, reading between the lines, noticing that a recruitment agency has about 200 jobs posted, all with just slightly different descriptions, that kind of thing.

As I'm in it for the long haul I'm taking notice of the good recruiters, adding them on linkedin, that kind of thing, I would rather have a short list of good recruiters who I can keep in touch with over the next 5-10-15-30years then have a bunch of random e-mail addresses.

I'm just seeing the same roles repeating themselves now, being constantly advertised, and so I'm going to take a break for a week or two, I'm in no rush, I'll see how things pan out with what's on the go at the moment.

And if there is anybody actually reading this and looking for a job, best of luck to you.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.

Wednesday 7 May 2008 - So this is my blog. Party time.

So this is my blog, my very own and my very first.  I'm all giddy with excitment.  I will primarily be writing about testing and QA and aspects relating to testing and QA, such as for instance, looking for work/interviewing, which I'm currently doing.  However as blogs are a chance for people to waffle on, aspects of general life will probably creep in as well.

While I was signing up I picked the 'simple' template, I've just previewed this entry, tell you what, they are not kidding.  I think I'll have a flip through the templates later on.

Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.