Ash Winter - What is testing?

#AgileNorthants

“If you don’t care about quality, you can meet any

other requirement.” ~ Gerald Weinberg

Ash WinterShort stuff here:@northern_tester

Long stuff here:testingisbelieving.

blogspot.co.uk

So, erm, what actually is testing then?

Tough crowd…• Does testing?• Identifies as a tester?• Doesn’t really think about it all that much?

• Thinks you can ‘bake quality in?’

• Thinks testing is dead?• Thinks devops will replace everything?

In interviews I ask…•What is testing (to you)?•Terrifying answers•“Being nice”

• No paradigm == no legitimacy• No legitimacy == no value

I do care… lots

OK, smarty-pants…•What is testing then?•Apart from “being nice”

What do you believe?• Rather than a technical definition…• These are my axioms about testing…

#1 Team Based Activity

• I help enable my team to test• I don’t test that much• Quality Assistance || Quality Advocacy

#2 Testing is a human, intellectual activity

•Thinking•Learning•Sharing•Talking•Listening

#3 Modelling• Products• Systems• Teams• Technologies• Testing == Information.

#4 Complete testing is impossible

• Logically always pesky bugs

• Infinity is a strength

#5 Balance & Variation

#6 Testing is a performance

• By all means, think about it.• The value when it is in motion, do it!

#7 Tools assist testing, not replace

• Automation is an hugely important tactic of testing• Build tools to observe and control

#8 Testability• Great development is concerned with testability• Great teams talk about it lots!

#n Context or ‘it depends’

• If the problem isn’t solved, then product doesn’t work.• Context driven activity. One size fits one.

What its not…• is another story…• But lets stay cheerful eh?

Questions or Beer?Duff Man says:

“Yeah that's swell, Duff wholeheartedly supports asking questions. Now! Who wants a beer!"