Best of STZ (Software Testing Zone) in year 2008!

As the end of year 2008 draws near, I have decided to bid it goodbye with a compilation of 10 top posts on STZ (Software Testing Zone) in last 12 months (according to me and reader's feedback and comment). If you are new at STZ, then you will find this post a good place to quickly scan this blog. If you are a regular reader, then probably this post may help you to read some posts that you may have missed earlier. So here are the top 10 best posts on STZ in the year 2008:

1. Software Testing and Cricket - an Analogy! Howzat! - This post tries to analyze and come up with 10 similarities between Software Testing and the sports Cricket! If you are an avid cricket fan then this is a must read for you. If you are not, then also I guess it would be equally fascinating for any tester. I am aware of at least 2 of my blog readers who had chosen this post as their presentation topic and were highly appreciated by their audience. Whether you are a Cricket fan or not, I believe this is going to be an interesting read for you.

2. Confusing Terminologies in Software Testing - A Case Study! - This post tries to explore the existence of confusing terminologies in the field of testing and tries to find out a way to deal with it. I find it so amazing, the way testers use different terms to mean the same underlying testing principle and the way testers use different ways to define a single testing terminology. What might be the solution to handle such confusion? Read in this case study.

3. Programming Skills and Testers! - Knowledge of programming and effectiveness of a tester - is there a connection? Can a good programmer make a good tester? Can a bad programmer make a good tester? Can a non-programmer make a good tester? Can you think of contexts when knowledge of programming can enhance your testing? Can you think of contexts when knowledge of programming can hamper your testing? Can you think of contexts when ignorance of programming can enhance your testing? Can you think of contexts when ignorance of programming can hamper your testing? Find out the answers in this blog post.

4. Repeatability of Tests - A necessary Evil! - “If you cannot repeat what you are testing then you are NOT testing properly! Think of regression testing. What will happen if your regression tests are exploratory by nature and are non-repeatable”? Do you also believe the same? Then may be its time to rethink! Don't miss to read Michael Bolton's insightful opinion in the comment section of this post.

5. Priority Report! - Still confused with bug severity and bug priority? May be the short testing story in this post would help you bust the myth. Check it out for some realistic examples describing bug severity and priority in different combination (
high severity and high priority bug, low severity and high priority bug, high severity and low priority bug, low severity and low priority bug).

6. Can your kid beat you in testing? - Check out this post to find out 10 reasons why I think kids could be good testers and 10 reasons why I think kids could be terrible at testing software!

7. Does SW Testing add value to the Project? - Does your programmer think that testing does not add any value to the project? Does he think that the testers are a bunch of crazy sadistic people who find it fun to find defects in his code? Does your programmer think that testing is a dumb worthless job? Then may be it would be a good idea to point him to this blog post!

8. Can test automation tools replace human testers? - Are you a tester who does not use much of test automation? Are you afraid that soon the testing tools are going to replace human testers? Do you fear that the automation robots are going to take over the world of human testers? Then, take a look at this post for a sigh of relief.

9. Interviewing a Testing Expert - Alan Page from Microsoft! - Alan Page is one of Microsoft's first Test Architects and currently chairs the test group in Microsoft's Engineering Excellence team. Among other things, this means that Alan teaches testers how to be better testers, and he has designed and teaches courses for Microsoft's most senior testers and test managers. Beyond teaching, Alan creates and updates technical courses, working with test teams across Microsoft to help them reach their goals. He has been a tester for over 15 years, and has been at Microsoft since 1995. In this interview Alan shares his professional journey to become Microsoft's one of the top Test Architects.

10. Top 10 reasons why there are Bugs in Software! - Ever wondered, why there are bugs in the software that we test? Ever wondered, how errors creep into the code? Then this is a post you must not miss.

Hope you enjoy reading the above posts. Wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous NEW Year.

Happy Testing...
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About Debasis Pradhan

Debasis has over a decade worth of exclusive experience in the field of Software Quality Assurance, Software Development and Testing. He writes here to share some of his interesting experiences with fellow testers.

4 Comments:

  1. Thanks for the quick recap/reference link.

    What are the fields/areas you would like to touch in next year?

    One of such would be personal interview. Wish to see more of such.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @ Prabhath,

    Well, honestly even I don't know the areas that I would be touching in the New Year. The idea for a new post usually comes from a real life situation. As we can not predict such situations, it is bit difficult to predict what I am going to cover in the future. But be rest assured, they would be related to Software Testing. :) Talking about plans, yes I am planning to come up with more personal interviews with some world renowned Testing Experts. So, keep your fingers crossed. I bet the New Year will be as exciting and as interesting (if not less) for STZ as the previous Year. So keep coming back from time to time to see what I have to offer you. :)

    Happy Testing. Wish you a Happy and Successful New year...

    -Debasis

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Debashis,

    Could you please write article on automation Framework and different types of Automation Frameworks available.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Mahesh,

    Well, I am assuming that you are new on Software Testing Zone. Because if you were not, then you would not probably have asked such a question! If you don't know yet, then let me tell you that this is NOT a blog where you would read theoretical stuffs and interview questions on software testing. Already there are lot many better places to read such things online. So instead of trying and reinventing the wheel, I rather try to speak my mind and share some of my interesting experiences related to software quality and software testing here.

    Coming back to article on automation framework and its types, have you tried to Google it? Have you tried to search about it in Wikipedia? Please do it for once, and I am sure you would no longer have to ask me (or anybody else) to write something on it for you!

    Happy Testing...
    -Debasis

    ReplyDelete

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