deutschtesting baton
I send this baton to blogs which cover the topic testing.
(this picture is by Mullenkedheim and is licenced under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License, source: Flickr)
Testing in my view is not limited to software testing - for me testing involves asking questions. And everybody can ask questions (not only software testers).
Here are now 5 questions, which you can answer in any length and with any statement you like. The only aim is: to get to know you more personally.
“Let the games begin…”
1. Could you tell something about your first tests ?
2. What would you like to highlight as an important thing of testing - from your personal experiences ?
3. Why is testing not trivial ?
4. What do you do after testing at work ?
5. How do you think testing will evolve in the next 13 years ?
1. Can you tell something about your first tests ?
(Please tell more than just a simple yes or no 
)
The best testing period was as a baby / child - unfortunately I do not remember all tests from that period.
When I think back, the first thing I remember is:
I played a doctor game with a girl in kindergarten. We were in a tent in the outside. Weather was fine. And when I wanted to approach my test object (yes, I mean the girl), our governess looked into the tent. So, I can not tell you, how this test session would have evolved.
The next one I remember is: one kid and I wanted to throw stones at each other (of course I do not know the exact reason anymore for this game You know certainly how children are.) And guess what: the other kid hit me with the stone so hard at my head, that I had to get sewed in the hospital.
And the next one: it was summer and there was planned an open air bath. Well, while the other kids wore their drawers or mini bikinis, Erkan wanted to test, how this experience would be when being naked. Here again the governess interrupted me in my tests
2. What would you like to highlight as an important thing of testing - from your personal experiences ?
You could read in books what kind of goals testing has, how you perhaps could approach to testing and various things more. Of course everybody himself/herself must decide, if reading alone is really sufficient to do good testing.
I would like to point out, that for me testing means playing with things. Do not misunderstand me - this does not mean I do not take testing for sincere. On the contrary: I truly identify myself as a tester. Testing for me involves the aspect of exploring and playing respectively. There are so many unknown things in software (and much more in life). And my opinion is, that the best way to tease more info out, is to play with it. Like a child would do - a child plays and asks so unbelievably many questions.
(The text is copied form here.)
3. Why is testing not trivial ?
There could be shown examples like …
the triangle example
Check, how many tests you can design for this simple program:
1. you have a program that has as input 3 numbers (let’s say the inputs must be integer)
2. there is a button “check” available
3. when you press “check”:
these 3 numbers are interpreted by the program as sides of the triangle.
The program can write a message, if the triangle is: scalene, isosceles or equilateral
Myers tells, that in average an experienced, professional developer gets 7,8 points (for each testcase one point)
Literature:
Myers, G. J. (2001). Methodisches Testen von Programmen. 7th run (unchanged reprint of the 3rd run) München ; Wien, Oldenbourg. page1, ISBN 3-486-25634-3.
James Bach and Michael Bolton in: Rapid Software Testing (and Test Management), Version 1.9.8.3, page24 in the slides
And e.g. here you can start testing the example for yourself.
…but well, my simple argument is: try testing yourself and you will see.
4. What do you do after testing at work ?
Well, for me it does not mean I test only at work and then I stop. This is nothing that you just can stop and turn on again. A friend once told: I should not test everything and I should also enjoy things for just what they are. I am working on this bug
I will keep you informed about what I do after work here on the blog.
5. How do you think testing will evolve in the next 13 years ?
It is in our own hands how it evolves.
What I really hope is, that people do respect testing as what it is - a creative, challenging, thrilling task which makes fun. It should not be seen as a stupid task.
And we should not wait 13 years to make this happen.
6. Did you hear my voice ?
Weird, there should have been only 5 questions, ain’t ? Well, as you know, during testing there are always surprises.
So, back to the question: Did you listen to my voice on this page (you can listen really to it by clicking somewhere on this page) ?
- If not, check this page more thoroughly ! If you listened then to my audio files: why didn’t you notice this earlier ? Well, bugs or features do not tell you always, that they exist, or do they ?
- If you (of course) noticed it at beginning and listened to the audio files then: congratulations
- If you noticed it at beginning, but did not investigate more: why ? Surely there is an explanation for this.
So, it is getting late now and I throw this baton first to these German speaking blogs: Frank Westphal, Christian Günzl, Christoph, Eddie, Tom, Hans Martin Kern, Der Tester and Nico Rühlemann
Erkan YILMAZ
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Info: this comment was written originally in German and translated afterwards.
[…]Without philosophizing about - if spring has already come or was jumped over - but today a baton flew to me. The baton which I am going to take soon, came from Erkan YILMAZ, a software tester, a person asking questions and perhaps one time contact point of all testers. Furthermore the baton did not go only to me, it went also to some other bloggers, who do not only call themselves “tester”, they also have an idea about it, QA people and others.
My blog on the other hand is called “Only a test - and still more” (blogging without concept or: this blog is not serious about itself) and has even a testing category […]
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> 1. Could you tell something about your first tests ?
My first memory of tests are memories of pain. Pain is the body’s way of telling us “don’t do that”. I remember testing a hot stove and discovering pain. I remember testing my parent’s instruction and discovering pain.
I remember testing gravity. Testing dirt. Testing balls. Children test things all the time.
My first software testing experience that I remember occured when my father bought our first computer — when I was 14. I did lots of testing with that computer. I tried writing code and tested that. I learned — after losing a program I spent an entire day entering — that floppy disks needed to be formatted before data could be saved on them.
> 2. What would you like to highlight as an important thing of testing - from your personal experiences ?
I too believe that play (that’s how children test) and exploration are necessary for good testing.
> 3. Why is testing not trivial ?
In reference to software: even the most simple software can be complex. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t ask a computer to do it for us. Even simple programs often have to handle unlimited data possibilities.
> 4. What do you do after testing at work ?
I test my family.
I study testing. I read. I blog. I seek out ways to improve testing. And, I’m a NASCAR fan. I find many parallels in software performance testing and the race teams’ search for the right setup.
> 5. How do you think testing will evolve in the next 13 years ?
I hope that skilled testing improves. However, I have doubts. (That’s the critical thinking pessimist in me.) I am alarmed at the largeness of the factory school view that test execution should be outsourced to the lowest bidder. I also have hope that if enough of us speak out, the tides will change.
> 6. Did you hear my voice ?
Yes.
Ben Simo
http://QualityFrog.com
[Erkan tells:
Ben, thank you very much for your answer. Let me comment on some:
>”to the lowest bidder.”
Well, quality has always a price. Sooner or later someone has to pay (for) this. I hope it is not the customer.
>”I also have hope that if enough of us speak out, the tides will change.”
I am sure, that speaking helps (at least for us, so that we can let it out from our souls and share this with others)
>”I find many parallels in software performance testing and the race teams’ search for the right setup.”
Perhaps you could blog about this? Would love to read this one.
>”pain”:
True, pain is often involved when we test in these times - we are good at testing, but then do not think much of the consequences of the tests. Unfortunately we do not only might harm ourselves. We might harm the ones who are close to us (e.g. our parents who perhaps get a heart attack, when we test gravity).
Two examples, which involve my brothers:
- my two brothers were fighting and one was then running through the appartment and the other one thought of an interesting test: he threw a knitting needle after the running. And this needle sticked in the neck of the running. I still wonder until today, how he survived this.
- I also remember that I once hold my brother on the air with my feet (me lying on the floor). Well, I wanted to test, if I can throw him with the feet in the air and catch him with the feet. Well, I could - but I did not think that it could hurt him. And I never forget the cry and what everything I did to calm him again (also with the fear, that my parents could hear this).
Well, when you grow up with brothers, there is always some rough exploring.]
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I’m not a tester…
Erkan Yilmaz tagged me with a few questions regarding testing. However, I’m not a tester, I just happen to be interested in some areas of testing, e.g. unit testing & test-first-coding. Could you tell something about your first tests? I……
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A pretty while ago, Erkan Yilmaz threw a baton at me and I would like to answer this finally now. […]