Software Testing’s Future—According to Lee Copeland
- 1. 1 Lee Copeland Software Quality Engineering lee@sqe.com @grandpacopeland Creating a Better Testing Future The World Is Changing and Testing Must Change With It
- 2. 2 Topics • Our World is Changing • The Curse of Past Successes • Lee’s Don’ts and Do’s for Future Success
- 4. Customers Are Changing Less loyal to brands Expect more capability Less tolerant of low quality
- 6. • In the past, organizations controlled external communication, both content and channels • Today, with the rise of Social Media … Communication is Changing
- 7. Communication is Changing • Organizational structure controlled tester communication, both content and channels • Today, social media can immediately connect testers world-wide
- 8. Development Process Is Changing Then Now
- 9. Development Process Is Changing • COBOL • CICS • VSAM • C# • Java • HTML 4/5 • JavaScript • XML • SQL • noSQL Then Now
- 10. Testing Must Match Today’s Technology IEEE 829 Testing Standard 1983 1983 1987
- 11. Testing Must Match Development
- 12. Topics • Our World is Changing • The Curse of Past Successes • Lee’s Don’ts and Do’s for Future Success
- 13. The Curse of Past Successes
- 14. The Curse of Past Successes • Processes that made us successful in the past may prevent us from being successful in the future
- 15. The Curse of Past Successes Camera Film
- 16. The Curse of Past Successes Video Rental Stores
- 17. The Curse of Past Successes Newspapers
- 18. The Curse of Past Successes Brick and Mortar Stores
- 19. The Curse of Past Successes Getting Bills in the Mail
- 20. Topics • Our World is Changing • The Curse of Past Successes • Lee’s Don’ts and Do’s for Future Success
- 21. The Don’ts and Do’s Focus Organization TestProcess TechnologyPlanning Automation
- 22. The Don’ts and Do’s Organization
- 23. Organization • DON’T – Maintain teams of “developers” and “testers”, throwing products over the wall – This was supposed to foster “independence.” Instead, it created “us vs. them” and “huh?” Development Test
- 24. Organization • DON’T – Establish Testing Centers of Excellence – “It’s where the disengaged gather to not produce” – David Hussman
- 25. Organization • DO – Integrate developers and testers together on the same team
- 26. The Don’ts and Do’s Test Process
- 27. Test Process • DON’T – Cling to a Waterfall style when your organization is moving toward Agile
- 28. Test Process • DON’T – Try to test EVERYTHING
- 29. Test Process • DON’T – Confuse Checking with Testing Michael Bolton
- 30. Test Process • When we already believe something to be true, we verify our belief by checking. Checking is a process of confirmation, verification, and validation • Checking is a highly automatable process
- 31. Test Process • Testing is something that we do with the motivation of finding new information • It is a process of exploration, discovery, investigation, and learning • Testing is not automatable. It’s using our brain in real time, and it’s really fun
- 32. Test Process • DO – Adopt a Customer-focused approach to testing
- 33. Test Process • DO – Focus on “What Value Does Testing Add?” rather than “What Processes Does Testing Execute?”
- 34. The Don’ts and Do’s Technology
- 35. Technology • DON’T – Use Stone Age techniques, tools, and technologies
- 36. Technology • DO – Embrace new technologies
- 37. Technology • DO – Consider open source test tools
- 38. The Don’ts and Do’s Planning
- 39. Planning • DON’T – Adopt rigid, overly detailed plans – Restrict testing to explicit requirements – Remember: “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy” – Helmuth von Moltke
- 40. Planning • DO – Create plans that Tell a story Present essential data Inspire and communicate Describe a reasoned plan of action
- 41. The Don’ts and Do’s Automation
- 42. Automation • DON’T – Rely on Capture/Replay
- 43. Automation • DON’T – Try to automate every test
- 44. Automation • DON’T – Try to replace humans in testing
- 45. Automation • DO – Use Test-driven Development
- 46. Automation • DO – Use Acceptance Test-driven Development
- 47. Automation • DO – Use Exploratory Testing “Simultaneous learning, test design, and test execution.” – James Bach
- 48. Automation • DO – and Session-based Exploratory Test Management Perform Exploratory Testing in Sessions: Charter Timebox Reviewable result Debriefing Jon Bach
- 49. The Don’ts and Do’s Focus
- 50. Focus on Prevention Over Finding • DO – Remember, while finding defects is important – We should be focused on defect prevention activities
- 51. The Don’ts and Do’s Focus Organization TestProcess TechnologyPlanning Automation
- 53. My Thanks To • Dorothy Graham • David Hussman • Jonathan Kohl • Alon Linetzki • Dan North • Martin Pol • Rob Sabourin • Alan Shalloway • Adrian Zwingli For their ideas, review, and comments