Ben Kelly, who works in Japan, is reviewing the Japanese translation of my book, Lessons Learned in Software Testing. He writes: Each lesson is numbered as per the original, but rather than 'lesson', … [Read more...] about Revenge of the Process Imperialists
Heuristics
Why Labels For Test Techniques?
Steve Swanson is very new to testing. I predict he has a great future. He has already noticed that the common idea of boundary testing is almost content-free. Michael Bolton and I do a whole session … [Read more...] about Why Labels For Test Techniques?
Methodology Debates: Traps and Transformations
(This article is adapted from work I did with Johanna Rothman, at the 1st Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference. It's never been widely published, so here you go.) As a context-driven testing … [Read more...] about Methodology Debates: Traps and Transformations
“Mipping”: A Strategy for Reporting Iffy Bugs
When I first joined ST Labs, years ago, we faced a dilemma. We had clients telling us what kind of bugs we should not report. "Don't worry about the installer. Don't report bugs on that. We have that … [Read more...] about “Mipping”: A Strategy for Reporting Iffy Bugs
Should Developers Test the Product First?
When a programmer builds a product, should he release it to the testers right away? Or should he test it himself to make sure that it is free of obvious bugs? Many testers would advise the programmer … [Read more...] about Should Developers Test the Product First?
“Use Version Control”
Darrell Norton says that "version control" is a best practice. I disagree with him about that, but his blog posting gives me an opportunity to show how context-driven reasoning works. Darrell … [Read more...] about “Use Version Control”
Surprise Heuristic
At the recent Workshop on Training Software Testers, Morven Gentleman showed us a chart of some test results. I was surprised to see a certain pattern in the results. I began to think of new and … [Read more...] about Surprise Heuristic
Dead Bee Heuristic
Have you ever had a software problem that disappeared even when you did nothing to correct it? Or have you ever fixed a bug by doing something that seems as if it shouldn't have fixed … [Read more...] about Dead Bee Heuristic
How to Investigate Intermittent Problems
The ability and the confidence to investigate an intermittent bug is one of the things that marks an excellent tester. The most engaging stories about testing I have heard have been stories about … [Read more...] about How to Investigate Intermittent Problems
Quick Oracle: Blink Testing
Background: In testing, an "oracle" is a way to recognize a problem that appears during testing. This contrasts with "coverage", which has to do with getting a problem to appear. All tests cover a … [Read more...] about Quick Oracle: Blink Testing