Software Test Optimization

Recruiting software testers into my previous organizations, I have always taken pride in identifying those with excellent test skills whether it be automation, customer validation, test planning, or any other skill required in a well-rounded test organization.  And believing I had a decent handle on those characters who may be suited for other technical positions but didn't have the drive and spine for my test org.  In my view, testers need to see things as broken and have a sense for when they see weakness there could be bigger problems ahead.  The water in that glass is 49.6% full and evaporating quickly! In contrast, software developers are notorious for believing all is good and no need to test in my code.  "If it compiles, ship it." That glass is at least 60% full! Clearly, the intersection of these viewpoints are brought together and everyone is asked to bring DATA for reality. Many jobs take a certain mindset and personality while on the job.  BUT these mind

Manual Testing  article review from Forbes: Keep Calm And Continue Testing: Nine Reasons Manual Testing Will Always Be In Demand POST WRITTEN BY Ruslan Desyatnikov Software Test Optimization Review: 25 years ago, aka pre-Y2K, a majority of testing was manual and automated testing was to me was in its infancy.  Yes, automated testing has been around since the 70s , but it was not the norm.  Today automation should be the norm and should be a majority of your test cases and test resources, but as this article states manual testing is still needed and should be at a minimum 10-20% of your test COVERAGE.  Validation or acceptance testing, as well as verification of the highest value and risk functional coverage, should have manual coverage.

COVID-19 is clearly the most important test of the day and containing it is everyone's top priority.  Ok testers, in a language you can understand: IF ((you have had exposure to a COVID-19 positive person) OR (you have a temperature) OR (you have lower respiratory congestion)) THEN {       You should be tested for COVID-19       While awaiting a Negative Test        {                 Quarantine        } } Continue smartly! And in an abbreviated data-driven format: Exposure     Temp    LowRespCongest    Test/Quarantine Y                    *                  *                            Y *                     Y                 *                            Y *                     *                  Y                           Y N                    N                 N                           N Supporting podcast with World Health Org recommendations: Confronting a Pandemic

Vulnerability Alerts   Last updated:  March 6, 2020 I highly recommend this article which uses the    National Vulnerability Database . Some great data presented on vulnerabilities, products, and historical trends.

Testers can have some interesting "hobbies".  Many careers enjoy spotting their unique products in the wild, aka everyday life.  Can you spot any application or web sites test data in the wild? 13March2020: original report still exists in the wild and daily email blast added another : TEST TEST TEST jobs in CONE ESTATES 10March2020: Test 111111111 CW Hospitality LLC   Tampa, FL, USA Employment Type Full-Time Test  111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Report Job or Report your Finds!!!

smashtest.io  put forward a tree-based shorthand for test case definition.  In a positive direction, the shorthand allows for test definition in an easy to read format that can expand to multiple manual tests and a more detailed test case description or language.  In the negative category, the standard format does not utilize data-driven variables in the language and does not address a strategy or logic for why test cases are selected.  So overall, I can not give a recommendation for this tool over a standard test generator in a spreadsheet but it may work for your organization to move the needle in test definition and generation.

AP Boeing blames incomplete testing for astronaut capsule woes By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer ARTICLE REVIEW by Software Test Optimization blog writers:  As many sources reported, and Boeing has confirmed, Boeing did not sufficiently test end-to-end functionality of the Starliner capsule.  There should be no doubt in the risk associated with this software, and the need for structured engineering processes.  This is a process failure as reported, management did not plan for or require system functional testing.