The IEEE 829 Test Documentation standard is thirty years old this year. Boris Beizer’s first book on software testing also turned thirty. Testing Computer Software, the best selling book on software testing, is twenty-five. During the last three decades, hardware platforms have evolved from mainframes to minis to desktops to laptops to tablets to smartphones. Development paradigms have shifted from waterfall to agile. Consumers expect more functionality, demand higher quality, and are less loyal to brands. The world has changed dramatically and testing must change to match it. Testing processes that helped us succeed in the past may prevent our success in the future. Lee Copeland shares his insights into the future of testing, sharing his Do’s and Don’ts in the areas of technology, organization, test processes, test plans, and automation. Join Lee for a thought provoking look at creating a better testing future.

1. W6
Concurrent Class
10/2/2013 11:30:00 AM
"Creating a Better Testing
Future: The World Is Chanign
and We Must Change With It"
Presented by:
Lee Copeland
Software Quality Engineering
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073
888-268-8770 ∙ 904-278-0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com

2. Lee Copeland
Software Quality Engineering
With more than thirty years of experience as an information systems professional at commercial
and nonprofit organizations, Lee Copeland has held technical and managerial positions in
applications development, software testing, and software process improvement. Lee has
developed and taught numerous training courses on software development and testing issues
and is a well-known speaker with Software Quality Engineering. Lee presents at software
conferences in the United States and abroad.

3. 9/19/2013
Creating a Better
Testing Future
The World Is Changing and
Testing Must Change With It
Lee Copeland
Software Quality Engineering
lee@sqe.com
1
Topics
•
Our World is Changing Rapidly
•
The Curse of Past Successes
•
The Don’ts and Do’s for Future Success
2
1

4. 9/19/2013
Technology Is Changing
Then
Now
3
Customers Are Changing
Expecting
more
capability
Less tolerant
of low quality
Less loyal to
brands
4
2

5. 9/19/2013
Business Is Changing
5
Communication is Changing
•
In the past, organizations controlled the
communication, both content and channels
•
Today, with the Rise of Social Media …
6
3

6. 9/19/2013
Communication is Changing
•
Organizational structure controlled tester
communication, both content and channels
•
Social media can connect testers world-wide
7
Development Process Is Changing
Then
Now
8
4

7. 9/19/2013
Development Process Is Changing
•
•
•
•
Assembler
COBOL
Fortran
C
Then
Now
•
•
•
•
•
•
C++
Java
HTML 4/5
JavaScript
XML
SQL
9
Testing Must Match Development
10
5

8. 9/19/2013
Testing Must Match Today’s Technology
IEEE 829
Testing
Standard
1983
1983
1987
11
Topics
•
Our World is Changing Rapidly
•
The Curse of Past Successes
•
The Don’ts and Do’s for Future Success
12
6

9. 9/19/2013
The Curse of Past Successes
•
Processes that made us successful in the past
may prevent us from being successful in the
future
13
The Curse of Past Successes
Camera Film
14
7

10. 9/19/2013
The Curse of Past Successes
Video Rental Stores
15
The Curse of Past Successes
Newspapers
16
8

11. 9/19/2013
The Curse of Past Successes
Brick and Mortar Stores
17
The Curse of Past Successes
Getting Bills in the Mail
18
9

12. 9/19/2013
Topics
•
Our World is Changing Rapidly
•
The Curse of Past Successes
•
The Don’ts and Do’s for Future Success
19
The Don’ts and Do’s
Organization
Automation
Test Process
Focus
Planning
Technology
20
10

13. 9/19/2013
The Don’ts and Do’s
Organization
21
Organization
•
DON’T
– Maintain teams of “developers” and “testers”,
throwing products over the wall
Development
Test
– This was supposed to foster “independence.”
Instead, it created “us vs. them”
22
11

14. 9/19/2013
Organization
•
DON’T
– Set up Testing Centers of Excellence
– “It’s where the disengaged gather to not
produce”
– David Hussman
23
Organization
•
DO
– Integrate developers and testers together
on the same team
24
12

15. 9/19/2013
The Don’ts and Do’s
Test Process
25
Test Process
•
DON’T
– Cling to a Waterfall style when your
organization is moving toward Agile
26
13

16. 9/19/2013
Test Process
•
DON’T
– Try to test EVERYTHING
27
Test Process
•
DON’T
– Confuse Checking with Testing
Michael Bolton
28
14

17. 9/19/2013
Test Process
•
When we already believe something to be true,
we verify our belief by checking. Checking is a
process of confirmation, verification, and
validation
•
Checking is a highly automatable process
29
Test Process
•
Testing is something that we do with the
motivation of finding new information
•
It is a process of exploration, discovery,
investigation, and learning
•
Testing is not automatable. It’s using our brain
in real time, and it’s really fun
30
15

18. 9/19/2013
Test Process
•
DO
– Adopt a Customer-focused approach to
testing
31
Test Process
•
DO
– Focus on “What Value Does Testing Add?”
rather than “What Processes Does Testing
Execute?”
32
16

19. 9/19/2013
The Don’ts and Do’s
Technology
33
Technology
•
DON’T
– Use Stone Age techniques, tools, and
technologies
34
17

20. 9/19/2013
Technology
•
DO
– Embrace new technologies
35
Technology
•
DO
– Consider open source test tools
36
18

21. 9/19/2013
The Don’ts and Do’s
Planning
37
Planning
•
DON’T
– Adopt rigid, overly detailed
plans
– Restrict testing to explicit
requirements
– Remember: “No battle plan
survives contact with the enemy”
– Helmuth von Moltke
38
19

22. 9/19/2013
Planning
•
DO
– Create plans that
 Tell a story
 Present essential data
 Inspire and communicate
 Describe a reasoned plan of action
39
The Don’ts and Do’s
Automation
40
20

23. 9/19/2013
Automation
•
DON’T
– Rely on Capture/Replay
41
Automation
•
DON’T
– Try to automate every test
42
21

24. 9/19/2013
Automation
•
DON’T
– Try to replace humans in testing
43
Automation
•
DO
– Use Test-driven Development
44
22

25. 9/19/2013
Automation
•
DO
– Use Acceptance Test-driven Development
45
Automation
•
DO
– Use Exploratory Testing
“Simultaneous
learning, test design,
and test execution.”
– James Bach
46
23

26. 9/19/2013
Automation
•
DO
– and Session-based Exploratory Test
Management
Perform Exploratory
Testing in Sessions:

Charter

Timebox

Reviewable result

Debriefing
Jon Bach
47
The Don’ts and Do’s
Focus
48
24

27. 9/19/2013
Focus on Prevention Over Finding
•
DO
– Remember, while finding defects is
important
– We should be focused on defect prevention
activities
49
The Don’ts and Do’s
Organization
Automation
Test Process
Focus
Planning
Technology
50
25

28. 9/19/2013
Thanks for Attending
Shameless
commercial
message
lee@sqe.com
51
My Thanks To
•
Dorothy Graham
•
David Hussman
•
Jonathan Kohl
•
Alon Linetzki
•
Dan North
•
Martin Pol
•
Rob Sabourin
•
Alan Shalloway
•
Adrian Zwingli
For their ideas,
review, and
comments
52
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