Chronicles Of Testing

Pre-conference: Some of the attendees at the conference and those who wished to be a part of the pre-conference registered to be at the meetup that was held a day before the Copenhagen CDT conference, courtesy Danske Bank. Pre-conference meetup was kicked off by Paul Holland who used the United States as a software testing analogy and routes to different states in the USA as the test environment. It was an interesting and eye-opening session for most of us present learning about ‘ The Potholes of Automating too much’ and on how NOT to test. Paul being an ex-pilot and with over 20 years of experience in testing, had several gems of lessons to share with us. Points to ponder: How to make sense out of the test environment when performing testing? If the investigation does not happen then why run the tests? The second session was by Keith Klain whom I idolize, his talk was about ‘ How to "Sell" Testing to C-level Management?’ I, along with the other audienc...

I have earlier shared my experiences with conferences (local and others) but being at European Testing Conference was a tad different experience as a speaker and as a participant. As a participant What I liked? Attendees and speakers got to attend the workshops scheduled on pre-conference day. The workshop that I chose to attend 'Test Leadership' helped me share some of the problems that I have had with my stint as a tester, test manager, and a leader. Special mention of Speed meet. One goes to conferences to listen and learn about new tools, new features of an existing tool, to learn about techniques first hand from the creator, speakers, and volunteers who have signed up to teach. To find a solution to a problem that they are facing. To discuss problems and meet people who can help them build something together. Speed meet gave such an opportunity for the conference goers to meet a mentor/friend who can help them learn. This meet brought many Twitter friends c...

The beginning It all began in the year 2012, when I was googling for software testing related learning materials. I recollect the intent of this search, I wished to learn from knowledge sources other than the ones that I was exposed to in the confinement of my work place. Being bogged down by listening to the process obsessed people, it finally pushed me to look for other learning sources. This search lead me to http://crisys.cs.umn.edu/issta2012/ link to ISSTA 2012 software testing conference. I began my learning by researching on how to apply, what to fill in, and to do my best and hope for the best. Post this preparation and submitting my statement on why I wish to attend ISSTA 2012, this happened -  an email from General Chair of ISSTA’12, Mats Heimdahl landed in my inbox. It was my first attempt at applying for any conference and this response was treasured.  The awardees for the Google ISSTA'12 Diversity Grant have been selected !   I read and re-rea...

Day 1 - Agile Leadership Vishu Hegde from PM Power Consulting hacked the agile leadership arena and striked the cord with the audience. He spoke about the major loophole in the transformation from the industrial era to the knowledge era. And the loophole is that many of us have not transitioned from the industrial era to the knowledge era. Key points: The answer to the problems of this era lies with an understanding and the paradigm shift towards the knowledge era and beyond. Vishu suggests that we question the norms and learn the skill/art of questioning. My take away: Continue to question and encourage questioning. Day 2 - Agile Team Culture Kalpesh Shah @agilebrightspot and Ellen Grove @eegrove stole the limelight on Day 2. True agility was demonstrated by Kalpesh - context based solutions were ideated and illustrated. As @pragmaticandy conveyed at the Better Software Conference keynote in 2015 -  don’t just follow agile but do what fits and s...