Test Guide

Making the invisible visible since 1987

Wordsmithing

A few weeks ago I read a suggestion by somebody somewhere to stop saying the word "but". Much of the...

Author: humbugreality Date: 05/02/2007

It Depends

My previous post stirred up a bit of controversy and spurred a bit of discussion. Fun stuff! The...

Author: humbugreality Date: 04/25/2007

And Now For Something Completely Different

I am excited to announce that today is my first day on...yet another top secret V1 project. As a...

Author: humbugreality Date: 04/23/2007

Automate This!

How much of your testing do you automate? How do you know whether you have automated enough - or too...

Author: humbugreality Date: 04/11/2007

Let's Go Bust Some Silos!

Who plans the tests for your product? Who writes them? Who executes them?On some product teams,...

Author: humbugreality Date: 04/04/2007

Driver Wanted

I was walking along, minding my own business, when a sign in a shop window reached out and grabbed...

Author: humbugreality Date: 03/28/2007

Super Dev

[With apologies to Rick James...]She's quite the super devThe kind who tests and tests and tests...

Author: humbugreality Date: 03/21/2007

Test Trimming

This week's profound thought on testing doesn't come from me. Instead, I point you to the AYE...

Author: humbugreality Date: 03/07/2007

Sign + Cup = Teaching Moment

I learned/had remembered to me several interesting things by posting that street sign. (Yes, Warren,...

Author: humbugreality Date: 02/28/2007

Brain Overload

Tell me, please, when exactly it is OK to park here? This is perhaps the most complicated set of...

Author: humbugreality Date: 02/23/2007

They're (gasp) Everywhere!

Recently I was shopping for music at a well-known online store. This store often suggests other...

Author: humbugreality Date: 02/21/2007

Payback Time

One thing I think is super important is stopping work on the important projects I am doing, and...

Author: humbugreality Date: 02/14/2007

Hot Fix Heaven

How do you handle emergency fixes to your software? Hot fixes, patches, QFEs (Quick Fix Engineering)...

Author: humbugreality Date: 02/07/2007

Shampoo Testing

Eric writes:How can I help my devs help me determine what is ready to test so I can help...

Author: humbugreality Date: 01/31/2007

Tag I'm It

Harry writes,Hi Micahel,I'm a regular reader of your blog. I run a blog on requirements and software...

Author: humbugreality Date: 01/24/2007

Micahel?

People often ask me why my blog URL is "micahel" rather than "michael". Here's why:Years ago I had a...

Author: humbugreality Date: 01/23/2007

This Is Your Brain On RST

Last week I took Rapid Software Testing from Michael Bolton. The three days of stuffing my brain in...

Author: humbugreality Date: 01/17/2007

Resolving Resolutions

Anu asks:[C]ould you post an entry on when to resolve a bug as "Dupe" or "No repro". I've been...

Author: humbugreality Date: 01/03/2007

Software Wonderland

[To the tune of "Here Comes Santa Claus"]Here comes a developer, here comes a developer, Right down...

Author: humbugreality Date: 12/20/2006

Testing In Five Easy Steps

James Bullock recently presented his Big Book Of Testing at the Seattle QA SIG. I'm sorry to have...

Author: humbugreality Date: 12/18/2006

Can Developers Test?

Diligent Reader Ayaz asks:Everywhere there is talk about the tester mentality and how the testers...

Author: humbugreality Date: 12/13/2006

Systin Testing

Jerrad is cooking up Systin, which he's building on top of Systir. All terribly exciting, but wait...

Author: humbugreality Date: 11/28/2006

Might Means

Eric writes:[I]t seems the main problem [in automating software testing] is getting the test data -...

Author: humbugreality Date: 11/15/2006

The Three Most Important Considerations

Eric writes:There's a lot of debate over automating software testing (ie is it worth it, will it get...

Author: humbugreality Date: 11/08/2006

Mistaken Opportunities

Sometimes I miss a meeting. This is rarer than it used to be. Each time I miss a meeting I identify...

Author: humbugreality Date: 11/01/2006

Tester Mentality

I tech screened a tester this morning for a position on my team. I always ask the candidate to...

Author: humbugreality Date: 10/18/2006

NOK? ACK!

Reader Geth writes to ask that I talk about what he refers to as NOK - Not OK - testing. The basic...

Author: humbugreality Date: 10/11/2006

How'd Ya Miss That?

Have you ever missed an obvious bug? One of those sit-up-and-smack-you-in-the-face problems that you...

Author: humbugreality Date: 09/27/2006

Pawn Takes King

At some point every product team reaches a point where the features are (allegedly, anyway) all...

Author: humbugreality Date: 09/20/2006

Colombia, Here I Come!

I am excited to announce that SQA has asked me to fly down to Colombia to give my talk Hallmarks of...

Author: humbugreality Date: 09/15/2006

Fantasy Island?

Recently one of my teammates was showing off a WPF application he had built. Since it's easy to do,...

Author: humbugreality Date: 09/06/2006

Ideaful Idealists

The last of Keirsey's Four Temperaments is the Idealist.Recall that Idealists - or NFs - tend to be...

Author: humbugreality Date: 08/30/2006

Artful Artisans

Today I'll cover the Artisan Temperament.Recall that Artisans - or SPs - tend to be concrete in...

Author: humbugreality Date: 08/16/2006

Eight Miles An Hour

Today I Trikked the Burke-Gilman (left half of my route) and Sammamish River (right half of my...

Author: humbugreality Date: 08/15/2006

Irrational Rationals

Continuing on with Keirsey's Four Temperaments, I'll do one post each going into the details of each...

Author: humbugreality Date: 08/09/2006

Temper Temper Temperament

As I've talked about before, one of my current areas of study is personality types. In particular,...

Author: humbugreality Date: 08/02/2006

Forty Miles?

No real post today, as I'm attempting forty miles on my Trikke:I'm starting (#0) just south of...

Author: humbugreality Date: 07/26/2006

Take One Down, Try It On, Ninety-nine More Possible Metrics On The Wall

Anutthara comments on my "Fast Today Or Fast Tomorrow" post:How am I to convince myself or others...

Author: humbugreality Date: 07/19/2006

Bad Dev Lead! Bad! Bad!

A Diligent Reader has a doozy of a question:As a test team lead, have you come acress scenarios...

Author: humbugreality Date: 07/12/2006

"Developer" Diary

Dr. Dobb's Journal recently started a new column titled "Developer Diaries", where they interview a...

Author: humbugreality Date: 07/07/2006

Fast Today Or Fast Tomorrow - Your Choice

My trainer has me timing my morning workouts as one way to track my progress. One day I realized...

Author: humbugreality Date: 07/05/2006

Purple Dragons Designing

I want to give a shout out to my wife Kaylyn. Kaylyn is a fabulous artist, and she is now selling...

Author: humbugreality Date: 06/26/2006

Tablet Gaming

I've been thinking about gaming on Tablets. Card games, Whack A Mole-like pound games, and board...

Author: humbugreality Date: 06/16/2006

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