Chicago Code Camp 2014 - Agile Testing in a waterfall world
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The document provides information about Angela Dugan, an ALM Practice Manager with over 15 years of experience in the software industry. It discusses her background working with Microsoft and Polaris Solutions. The rest of the document covers topics related to adopting agile practices for testing, including comparing waterfall and agile approaches, challenges in transitioning to agile testing, and recommendations for collaboration between testers and developers.
Chicago Code Camp 2014 - Agile Testing in a waterfall world
- 1. Chicago Code Camp 2014 Angela Dugan Angela.Dugan@PolarisSolutions.com
- 2. ALM Practice Manager Certified Scrum Master ALM MVP 15 years in the software industry 8+ years as an architect, BA, PM, developer, and team lead 5+ years with Microsoft as an ALM evangelist 2+ years with Polaris Solutions as ALM Practice Manager Shameless self promotion Polaris Solutions- http://www.polarissolutions.com/ Chicago Visual Studio ALM User Group - http://www.chicagoalmug.org/ Twitter: @OakParkGirl, @ChicagoALM, @TeamPolaris Blog - http://www.tfswhisperer.com/
- 3. Of course this has NEVER happened to you... Right?
- 4. It is plan-driven, and plans are good right? Pert charts, Gaant charts, Critical paths, OH MY! Rules with an Iron Fist (A.K.A Microsoft Project) Pre-defined Start Dates & End Dates Teams operate in silos (Centers of Excellence) It is not the devil, but it CAN be evil if its prescribed techniques are abused
- 5. Embraces uncertainty, software IS uncertain Empirical (based on experience and observation) Continuous improvement “Forecast” rather than “commitment” Self-organization and estimation by the “do-ers” It is not the devil, but it CAN be evil if its prescribed techniques are abused
- 6. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan
- 7. Daily standup INCLUDES people from multiple disciplines Agile estimation leverages INSTINCT and EXPERIENCE to provide realistic expectations and more confident forecasts Backlog grooming focuses team’s efforts on customer’s current PRIORITIES An iterative process fueled by customer FEEDBACK ensures the team delivers the right functionality A constant FOCUS ON QUALITY ensures that quality is built-in, not tested in Retrospectives foster CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT by inspecting outcomes, sharing of best practices and honing the process
- 8. Waterfall Agile Requirements documents Just-in-time, informal requirements Occasional “customer” involvement Frequent “customer” involvement Start-to-finish Project Plan Plan for Sprint. Details are sketchy beyond that. Priorities shift based on new data. Tasks are assigned Assigned tasks are a bottleneck Potentially large team size Teams of 3 – 9 people Multiple phases, eventual delivery Working software each Sprint / Iteration Resistant to change Change is expected Contract says what we build, deliver Contract is a lot closer to T&E
- 9. Waterfall Agile Test cases created from Specifications Acceptance criteria Test cases are created Manually Manual Automate stubs from acceptance criteria Test cases are created Up front Started up front, continually refined Time commitment Large Still a lot, but a huge improvement Text execution is Well defined steps Some automation Near end of project Some defined steps Scenario-based/Exploratory Automation Executed early, often, continuously Tests executed by QA Team Everyone Weaknesses Documentation overhead Regression often squeezed Sensitive to change Coordination can be challenging Requires skilled automation resources
- 10. More collaboration Better overall visibility of status, progress, quality Less bureaucracy to get in your way Less impact from requirement churn Testing is EVERYBODY’S concern, ALL the time! Reduces resource bottlenecks Less focus on output, more focus on quality Everyone feels IS invested in the deliverable
- 11. More meetings (kind of) Less (perceived) accountability Less (unnecessary) documentation More requirement churn Shorter runway for writing tests May require a new “toolbox”
- 12. Change is hard, and this could be a BIG one FAR greater levels of discipline required by EVERYONE on an agile team (yes, really) Far more responsibility on Stakeholders and end- users Management support can be difficult to achieve & maintain, and it is CRITICAL for success! Agile shines a light on existing dysfunction
- 13. Starting over is hard, and there is NEVER a good time to do it. a.k.a “Throwing good money after bad.” Engineers may not be used to being “responsible for quality”. QA should never be testing code that has not already passed unit testing in the development phase. QA is still logically the last task in marking a user story done. Delays in development tasks will always impact QA timelines. QA may not be used to inspecting requirements and asking questions up front. Addition of new user stories at ANY point impacts EVERYONE. Include QA to ensure appropriate commitments and estimations are built in
- 14. No more Magna Carta Requirements documents Manual and exploratory tests created and managed in MTM Test automation in VS (Unit, Functional, Web performance Load) Load Testing in the Cloud Automated CI builds Lab Management Rich bugs, OMG Web tools Release Management
- 15. Microsoft Test Manager Exploratory Testing Record and Playback Manual Tests TFS Web Tools Agile Planning Tools Test Hub Visual Studio Cloud based load testing
- 16. Get your developers involved early and often in gathering feedback and building quality into the product (TDD, unit testing) Automate regression tests as soon as appropriate Scenario based testing Generate test case scripts whenever possible (from exploratory tests or acceptance criteria) Involve stakeholders in testing (UAT) Adopt a good toolset to assist with collaboration and automation
- 17. Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant” 2012 Ovum Decision Matrix for ALM 2013
- 18. Read what Forrester and Gartner have to say, then sh*t-can the reports and make your own decision Focus on tools that foster collaboration Many tools can fit the bill, use what feels good Best fit is not always “Best of Breed” Tools can foster efficiency and collaboration Tools cannot fix your people or process issues, they just automate them :- Expensive tools and fancy practices are useless if they aren't supportive of the approach you are willing to adopt.
- 19. Collaborate: daily stand-ups should include testers Adopt a process (if it’s all ad-hoc today) Shorten delivery cycles Question anything that “smells” Continuously improve, even if it is just the little things Leverage an integrated ALM tool (if you don’t already have one)
- 20. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us Daniel Pink Under $10 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About- Motivates/dp/1594484805/
- 21. Agile Testing Lisa Crispin Janet Gregory $40 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Testing-Practical- Guide-Testers/dp/0321534468
- 22. Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012: Adopting Agile Software Practices: From Backlog to Continuous Feedback Sam Guckenheimer Neno Loje $30 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Studio-Team-Foundation- Server/dp/0321864875
- 23. Agile Software Testing in a Large Scale Project: http://www.slideshare.net/Softwarecentral/agile-software-testing-in-a-largescale- project Great Testing Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/anutthara/ Another Great Testing Blog: http://www.clemensreijnen.nl/search.aspx?q=testing Forrester ALM Blogs: http://blogs.forrester.com/category/alm Load Testing in the Cloud: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2013/11/13/load-testing-with- visual-studio-online-launching-commercial-preview.aspx
- 24. Free ALM Images with HOL: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/briankel/archive/2013/04/17/list- of-all-visual-studio-alm-virtual-machines.aspx ALM Summit Video: Testing and Agile: The Team Approach - http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/ALM-Summit/ALM-Summit-3/Testing-and-Agile- The-Team-Approach ALM Summit Video: Agile Testing: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/ALM- Summit/ALM-Summit-3/Agile-Testing ALM Summit Video: Exploratory Testing: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/ALM- Summit/2011/Exploratory-Testing