Scott's Blog
Testing the Limits... Interviews by uTest
uTest is doing a series of interviews with interesting/well-known testers. I was flattered to be asked to be interviewed recently and found that I enjoyed answering the questions... and didn't hate my answers when I read them as posted (any of you who have ever done that sort of thing know that is a fairly significant statement!)
My interview is "Testing the Limits with Scott Barber": Part I, Part II, Part III
Attend CAST 2010
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Attend CAST 2010 |  |
The 5th annual Conference of the Association for Software Testing | |
August 2-4, 2010, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA | |
"Skills in Testing" | |
Keynotes by: | |
*Made possible by: DornerWorks | |
EARLY BIRD PRICING ENDS ON MAY 15! | |
LAST CHANCE TO SAVE UP TO 30%! |
Testing vs. Checking ... my 2 cents.
I was pleased to see Michael Bolton's series on Testing vs. Checking. If you haven't been following, what I consider to be the central thread of the topic (and the unfortunately inevitable fallout that seems to happen in "testerland" almost any time someone says something that makes sense).
From Michael:
- http://www.developsense.com/2009/08/testing-vs-checking.html
- http://www.developsense.com/2009/09/transpection-and-three-elements-of.html
- http://www.developsense.com/2009/09/pass-vs-fail-vs-is-there-problem-here.html
- http://www.developsense.com/2009/09/elements-of-testing-and-checking.html
From James Bach:
From Scott Barber:
- http://www.perftestplus.com/resources/014PeakPerf.pdf Original, ST&P Magazine, 2005
- http://www.logigear.com/newsletter/investigation_vs_validation.asp Reprinted by Logigear, 2007
Thorkil Sonne: Recruit Autistics
Wired.com ran their smart list today. If you aren't familiar with it or don't care, at least check out the great press fellow software tester, entrepreneur, and social innovator Thorkil Sonne is getting for Specialisterne here:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-10/ff_smartlist_sonne
Attention Vendors and Service Providers
The 4th Annual Conference of the Association of Software Testing (CAST) 2009
Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 13-16, 2009
Serving Our Stakeholders
If your company sells tools, training, or services related to software testing, CAST is the one conference you won't want to cut out of your budget. For a small fraction of the cost of many other conferences you can network with influencers and decision makers, you can become known as a company that really cares about testing and testers (as opposed to a company that simply found a way to make money off of software testing), and you can get a glimpse into where testing is headed in the future.
CAST 2009 Early Bird Rates Extended until May 1
The 4th Annual Conference of the Association of Software Testing (CAST) 2009
Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 13-16, 2009
Serving Our Stakeholders
Opening Keynote by: Dr. Jonathan Koomey
Closing Keynote by: Robert Sabourin & Tim Coulter
Invited Speakers: Mike Dwyer and Kevin Brennan
CAST 2009 Early Bird Rates Extended until May 1
The 4th Annual Conference of the Association of Software Testing (CAST) 2009
Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 13-16, 2009
Serving Our Stakeholders
Opening Keynote by: Dr. Jonathan Koomey
Closing Keynote by: Robert Sabourin & Tim Coulter
Invited Speakers: Mike Dwyer and Kevin Brennan
A misleading benchmark...
No further commentary needed.
- --
- Scott Barber
- President & Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus, Inc.
- --
- Scott Barber
- President & Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus, Inc.
- Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
- Co-Author, Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications
- "If you can see it in your mind...
- you will find it in your life."
- --
- Scott Barber
- President & Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus, Inc.
- Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
- Co-Author, Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications
- "If you can see it in your mind...
- you will find it in your life."
- --
- Scott Barber
- President & Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus, Inc.
- Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
- Co-Author, Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications
- "If you can see it in your mind...
- you will find it in your life."
- --
- Scott Barber
- President & Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus, Inc.
- Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
- Co-Author, Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications
- "If you can see it in your mind...
- you will find it in your life."
Thoughts on Performance Testing w/o "Tools"
I was recently asked the following question via the "Ask The Expert" feature of SearchSoftwareQuality.com.
How can we conduct performance testing, stress testing, and load testing of a Web application manually without using any tools?
My commentary is reproduced below -- you'll have to click through to see my actual recommendations.
Latest Column -- The controversy surrounding the schools of software testing
My latest column...
Periodically, discussions break out in various software testing communities around the Web regarding the schools of software testing.
As I write this, there are discussions going in SQAForums, on the Software-Testing Yahoo! group, and various blogs that (at least up to the time I started writing this piece) reside on or are fed to Testing Reflections. In principle, I'm always pleased when these discussions break out. The point of identifying the schools in the first place was to increase the overall awareness of the diversity in ideologies, practices, and values (i.e. schools of thought) in our field and to stimulate discussion about the situational pros and cons of each. That said, the discussions that actually take place tend to drift off in one or more directions that end up being disappointing, unnecessarily confrontational, and generally not useful.
Latest Column -- Testing training: Disturbing behaviors of students
My latest column...
Drive-by training. Never heard of it? It is exactly what it sounds like. You drive to a training facility (or an instructor drives to you), for a day or three the instructor delivers the pre-packaged training class, then everyone drives back home. It's not the best training model ever invented. There is generally no student assessment, and the only instructor/course provider accountability is reputation. Even so, many good ideas can be shared and lots of students come away feeling that it was well worth "the drive."
As it turns out, I've been delivering a lot of drive-by training to software testers this fall. That in itself isn't particularly noteworthy -- end-of-the-budget year is a popular time for drive-by training -- but something that is noteworthy is that I have noticed a rise in some disturbing behaviors among the individuals and organizations that select and attend drive-by training.
At first, I thought it was just me. But after an informal poll (and some lively discussions) with my employees and trainer friends in the testing realm, I became increasingly convinced that the behaviors I'm noticing are not exclusive to me and that I'm not the only one who thinks they are on the rise.
Read the rest of the column.
Latest Column -- Software Testers are not helpless
My latest column...
During a coffee break at a class the other week, I overheard the following comment from one student to another:
Tester: "This stinks! All of my automated test scripts are broken and I can't seem to get the tool to work now that the developers have enabled Secure Sockets Layer. I'm going to have to work through the weekend."
I know that it's generally considered rude to eavesdrop, and ruder still to comment on a conversation you weren't invited to, but I figured that since I was teaching the class I'd be forgiven. Besides, I simply couldn't help myself.
Read the rest of the column.
June Issue of AST Update Now Available
June 2008 Issue of the Association for Software Testing Magazine and Newsletter Now Available
Latest Column -- Avoid "Center of the Universe Syndrome"
My latest column cautioning testers not to think they are the center of the development team's universe http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid92_gci1325828,00.html.
5 Questions with Scott Barber by a Braidy Tester
I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Michael Hunter, a Braidy Tester, for Dr. Dobbs Portal. Check it out: 5 Questions with Scott Barber.
Keynotes by: Tim Lister & Cem Kaner
Tutorials by: Fiona Charles, Harry Robinson, & Cem Kaner
"I tend to rotate conferences from year to year. I've found that most have their own personalities that are slow to change. CAST is different. I always find it progressive and enlightening. It is the one conference I look forward to attending every year."
Now Available
Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications
Lead Contributing Author: Scott Barber
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Blogs I read
- James Bach
- Jon Bach
- Michael Bolton
- Tim Coulter
- Selena Delesie
- Laura DeVilbiss
- David Ross Drake
- Jeff Fry
- David Gilbert
- Corey Goldberg
- Elisabeth Hendrickson
- Matt Heusser
- Michael Hunter
- Karen Johnson
- Cem Kaner
- Mike Kelly
- Jonathan Kohl
- Shrini Kulkarni
- TheDarkSide
- Chris Loosley
- Antony Marcano
- Chris McMahon
- Brian Osman
- The Testing Rat Pack
- Louise Perold
- Catherine Powell
- Alberto Savoia
- Ben Simo
- Ben Yaroch
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