Schools of Testing Revisited

Rahul Verma invited me to read several very well-compilled posts discussing various views on the 'schools' of testing. I previously expressed my personal views on the topic and in a comment on the EuroStar blog. Rahul researched multiple resources to produce a fine, unbiased series of several posts that discuss various viewpoints and opinions on the concept of 'schools' in software testing.

Bret Pettichord has spoken widely on this subject and he makes several very strong arguments in favor of the 'schools' concept. I respect Bret and his views because he is an intelligent guy and always open to discuss and consider differing views and opinions. Last February Bret sent me mail agreeing with my statement that "...isolating oneself, or a group of people, into one 'school' simply doesn't make much sense." He added that he considered himself a member of different schools depending on who he was communicating with at the time because the "same words mean different things in the different schools."

But, in my opinion this also illustrates part of the problem. Let's assume for a moment that we do recognize several 'schools' within the discipline of testing. If each 'school' defines 'acceptance testing' differently than we really don't have different 'schools' of thought united under a single discipline, we actually have several unique disciplines.

Anyway, I suggest you take some time to read Rahul's blog posts on the subject and reach your own conclusions and develop your own unique viewpoints on the topic.

BTW...I did see the completely unprofessional sniping by James Bach where he posted 2 identical comments stating "BJ Rollison is a fool" on 2 separate posts (including one post in which I am not even referenced). I guess when the well of logic and analytical reasoning dry up some people will resort to their unbridled emotions and simply hurl personal insults in a puerile attempt to prove their point.

Comments

• Anonymous
  June 01, 2007
  PingBack from http://msdnrss.thecoderblogs.com/2007/06/01/schools-of-testing-revisited/

• Anonymous
  June 05, 2007
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• Anonymous
  June 06, 2007
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• Anonymous
  June 07, 2007
  Hi Shrini, I will not speak for Bret or attempt to express his views, but in my opinion Bret has not 'disowned' the idea of 'schools.' In fact, when I last spoke to him he said he was expanding the list to include the 'test-driven/agile school.' I interpret Bret's statement as saying (and my own personal opinion is) if a person aligns themselves with only one 'school' of thought they eventually become biased and develop a very narrow view of the 'world' which ultimately limits their ability to think broadly across multiple perspectives and rationally analyze the value of disparate approaches or concepts. I understand there are different ways to think about a problem. I also understand the value of labeling things in a taxonomic structure of sorts as a learning mechanism (because some people are better learners when things are classified into ordered groups). However, at some point the learner should understand the value that exists in the various "standards of criticism, exemplar techniques, and hierarchies of values"  ('schools' as defined by Bret Pettichord) and how they are intertwined and inter-relational, and how they must all be realized in order to be most effective in our role as professional testers. In my opinion, when some people misinterpret Bret's  concepts of 'schools' as a 'belief' system or 'movement' then the idea of 'schools' becomes a sort of religious dogma and zealots who proclaim one 'school' as superior to others tend to separate and disparage rather than accept and embrace diverse and alternative views and perspectives. This diminishes the value of a taxonomy as a learning mechnaism. (Hence my earlier post on stopping the segregation.) (Personally, I find it interesting that people seem to be of 2 basic opinions regarding this matter. One group of people who claim to be members of one particular 'school,' and the other group of people who don't align themselves with any particular school (although they sometimes tend to be labeled as a member of one of the other schools by people in the first group). Which makes me think...if the concept of categorical 'schools' really existed in our profession then wouldn't there also be outspoken pundits of the analytic, factory and quality 'schools' trying to convince people that their particular 'school' was superior to the others?) So, "where do we go from here?" I think people should carefully read Rahul's posts with an open mind and reach their own conclusions. The profession of software testing (as a whole) will eventually follow a path that provides value to the practitioners.

• Anonymous
  December 15, 2007
  Tonight I was having dinner at the superb Italian restaurant L'Olivo along the canal in Nyhaven, Denmark