Test Guide
Making the invisible visible since 1987
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Versions
A reader asks:Can you shed some light on how to plan out versioning in test? I am on a project where...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/14/2006
Tiny Tablets Trikkeing
I was out Trikkeing this weekend. Two hours flew by in no time at all - that is one sweet ride!...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/12/2006
Learn This!
I have always been curious about all sorts of things. How Stuff Works is a treasure trove for me - I...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/07/2006
Semantic Dream Analysis
They say that when you start thinking and dreaming in that foreign language you are trying to learn...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/05/2006
My New Toy
My birthday present to myself this year was a Trikke:Trikkes (that's a long "I" and just one...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/03/2006
Change Takes Time
One thing I've learned being a lead is that change takes time. And the bigger the change the longer...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/01/2006
No Bounds For You!
A reader writes:I am working on a client application that manipulates all sorts of COM objects. My...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/24/2006
Security Security Security Security
The opening keynote at STAR East this morning was James Whittaker (who I'm happy to say has joined...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/18/2006
Hooray For Me!
Speakers at STAR East are given the opportunity to submit a paper in support of their presentation....
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/18/2006
Hallmarks Of A Great Tester
Thanks to everyone who helped make my STAR East presentation "Hallmarks Of A Great Tester" this...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/17/2006
Weight Loss For Software Development
Mary Poppendieck opened STAR East this morning by asserting that "Your development and testing...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/17/2006
STAR East anybody?
I'll be at STAR East next week. I give my talk "Hallmarks of a Great Tester" Wednesday afternoon,...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/12/2006
Yes Virginia, You Do Have A Spec
When you don't have a specification, everything's a bug. But in fact you always have a spec....
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/10/2006
Entropy Happens
If you have a car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, or some other form of transportation made of metal,...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/03/2006
Bug Whacking
The Microsoft campus has copious amounts of greenspace - great swards of grass, bushes and trees...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/26/2006
An Especially Bad Case Of Estimation Gone Awry
Last year a convenience store near my house burned down. After a very long time (the insurance took...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/19/2006
Now Serving: Daily(ish) Blogs
You may know that Dr. Dobb's Journal is launching a new portal site where experts in the industry...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/17/2006
My Job Is Not To Write Test Cases
"But my job is to write test cases!" my friend said, almost plaintively. We were discussing the huge...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/12/2006
The Book Of Bugs
[With apologies to the Monotones...]I wonder, wonder who, who-oo-ooh WHOWho wrote the Book Of...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/05/2006
Who Says A Tester Has To Test?
Sometimes the right test to write is no test at all.One of my features is clipboard support -...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/29/2006
SDWest: Agility And Architecture
Yesterday and today have been jam-packed with interesting sessions. The best of the bunch by far,...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/16/2006
SDWest: Behavior Driven Development
This morning I'm learning about Behavior Driven Development (BDD) from Dave Astels. At its core, BDD...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/14/2006
SD, Here I Come!
I'll be at SDWest next week stuffing my brain full of learning until it hurts. If you're going to be...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/10/2006
Please Pardon The Mess...
Thanks to pokes from Sherman and Anutthara I've added categories to all my posts. Unfortunately this...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/03/2006
Testing For Developers Illustrated
I have received numerous requests for examples of how to use my Testing For Developers checklist. So...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/01/2006
Lunging Madness
The human body is an amazing thing. If you do something bunches of times in a row it gets fatigued...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/25/2006
Tests In The Spec Before Code?
A Diligent Reader writes:A co-worker and I are having a bit a disagreement that I feel your talents...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/15/2006
Yo Yo Yo - New Expression Bloggers
I feel compelled to give a shout out to Mario, Adrian, and Unni, all of whom are finally blogging!...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/10/2006
It's Not What You Know That Matters
My friend Mike recently told me about his bee magnet. Once upon a time, his family got it into their...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/08/2006
Michael's (Mostly) Raw Breakfast Muesli
At the same time I experimented with being a vegetarian I also dabbled with a raw food diet. I did...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/04/2006
Help Us Help You
Rob Caron is looking for testers and test leads willing to have a couple Microsofties come to your...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/01/2006
Through The Glass Darkly
Testing is often divided into two types: black box testing, where you poke at the product from the...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/01/2006
My Perfect PC
It's been a loooong wait, and it's not all available yet, but this is what my perfect computer would...
Author: humbugreality Date: 01/27/2006
Testing For Developers
When we testers find yet another "Did you even run this?" bug, it's easy to believe developers...
Author: humbugreality Date: 01/25/2006
StarEast, Here I Come!
I'm excited to announce that I'll be presenting my talk "Hallmarks Of A Great Tester" at StarEast! I...
Author: humbugreality Date: 01/19/2006
Re: When To Automate
Patrick comments on my When To Automate post:I am confused by your third bullet in that...
Author: humbugreality Date: 01/18/2006
I Can't Test This
(with apologies to MC Hammer; various parts of chori blatantly plaigarized from Weird Al Yankovic)I...
Author: humbugreality Date: 01/11/2006
How To Become A (Great) Tester
Linda asks how one gets into the software testing field. "Are there certain formulas I would need to...
Author: humbugreality Date: 01/04/2006
Roadmap For The Next (Five) Year(s)
Goals are important. Without a goal - something you plan to do, accomplish, achieve - you can only...
Author: humbugreality Date: 12/21/2005
When To Automate
My team has a goal of 110% automation, but: not every test is worth automating. What's more, the...
Author: humbugreality Date: 12/14/2005
Signature Strengths
Thanks to one of my blogroll (I forget who and can't reconstruct) I found the VIA Signature...
Author: humbugreality Date: 12/07/2005
TheBraidyTester.com
Thanks to the good folks at LogoWorks I now have a logo! I didn't have any clue what I wanted at...
Author: humbugreality Date: 12/02/2005
My Physical Has Gone Mental
Everybody is different, but trying to deal with and understand and work effectively with five...
Author: humbugreality Date: 11/30/2005
3,500,000 Euros!
I'm participating in Steve Pavlina's Million Dollar Experiment. So far I've made $1.01. (Found it on...
Author: humbugreality Date: 11/22/2005
I Don't Care - But I Do
We have recently started planning Sparkle's end game: what it's going to take to ship this puppy....
Author: humbugreality Date: 11/09/2005
$1,000,000
What would you do with one million dollars? Pay off my mortgage, buy some toys, invest for the...
Author: humbugreality Date: 11/05/2005
Let Go Your Fear
I have been working on a presentation on our automation stack for many months now. I'm finally to...
Author: humbugreality Date: 11/02/2005