testing circus vol2 issue3
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Testing Circus
Volume 2 - Issue 3 March 2011
www.TestingCircus.com
YOUR MONTHLY MAGAZINE
ONSOFTWARE TESTING
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From the Keyboard of Editor-in-Chief
Testing
Circus
Vol 2 - Issue 3
www.TestingCircus.com March 2011 - 2 -
Almost every day I get calls from potential
trainees who want to learn software test-ing from me. They are from diverse back-
grounds. Some are still students, some are
engineering graduates fresh out of college,
some are working in BPOs, some are mar-
ried females once studied engineering
got married kids and now wants go
back to work, some are from other non-IT
job profiles. I am a choosy teacher. So I ask
lot of questions before taking someone into
my training program. The first naturalquestion is why he or she wants to join or
learn software testing. The most common
answer I get is software testing is easy
compared to programming or it is the
easiest way to get into IT industry. Oh
crap. Software testing is not easy. At least
I think so. Also it is not the easiest way to
get into IT industry.
Why do these guys feel that software test-ing is easy? Four reasons I feel are respon-
sible for this kind of wrong opinion on
software testing. One - since we dont do
coding as a part of our everyday job, soft-
ware testing is an easy task. Two the
product development managers will put
their worst coders into testing. Three
HR guys will take anyone into testing
when the market is hot. Remember 2006-
2007? Every other guy got into testing
during that period in India. Four last
but not the least Testers are responsible
for making non-testers feel that testing is
easy.
Today how many of us feel proud being
associated with testing? Most of us were
forced into testing. Very few people are
testers by choice. Few testers like me who
are testers by choice do not educate non-
testers that testing is not everyones cup
of tea and it is not that easy how theythink it is like. Testing requires skills,
thinking beyond the limit programmers
can think, ability to see beyond obvious,
rapid learning, mental and visual se-
quencing ability, building up scenarios
that may happen with the product and
passion for investigating into details.
I heard this someone saying. Dont re-
member who said this but agree fully tothis opinion. Dont separate product team
into developers and testers. It should be
programmers/ coders and testers because
testers are also developers, contributing to
the product development process. We test-
ers are no less skilled than our program-
mer friends. Sometimes we are little more
skilled than them and thats why we catch
the mistake they make.
Dont let testers be the 2nd class citizen of
product development. Arise and educate
the ignorant crowd surrounding you.
That is the message I want to convey in
this 6th edition of Testing Circus. Jai Ho
Testing!
- Ajoy Kumar Singha
[email protected]://twitter.com/ajoysingha
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Testing Circus Vol 2 - Issue 3
Where is What?Topic Author Page Number
Editorial Ajoy Kumar Singha 2
Letters to the Editor 5
Test Coverage: How not to miss anything during
testing?Ajay Balamurugadas 6
Cloud Computing Service: A Basic Introduction Basant Narayan Singh 9
Be an Honest Tester Vipul Gupta 13
Promoting Testing in your Organization Rob van Steenbergen 16
Why do Test Tool suppliers have such a good sale? Marcel Hogenhout 19
Automation Assisted Manual Testing Trish Khoo 23
Exploratory Testing From Wikipedia 26
A Fake Tester's Journey A Fake Tester 29
Software Testing News 32
Test Case Writing Practice Naresh Bisht 34
Testers to Follow in Twitter 36
Interview with Darren McMillan 38
QTP Code Corner Jaijeet Pandey 43
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Chandrasekhar B N is a 26 year old SoftwareTester working at Bangalore. He was detectedwith Blood cancer (Acute Lymphoblastic Leuke-
mia - with Ph+ve) in October.
We urge all readers ofTesting Circus to donate
generously for this purpose.
No donation is small. You can do it online
through your VISA/Master Card. (Donors from
outside India can do it online)
https://donations.cpaaindia.org/
You can write a cheque or send demand draft inthe name
"CANCER PATIENTS AID ASSOCIATION "
and mail it to:
Dr. Shubha Maudgal
Executive Director
Cancer Patients Aid Association
Smt. Panadevi Dalmia Cancer Management Centre
King George V Memorial, Dr. E. Moses Road,
Mahalakshmi, Mumbai - 400 011Tel: +91 22 2492 4000 / 2492 8775 Fax: +91 22 2497
3599
Please Note: Write Chandrasekhar B N on theback of the cheque.
Testing Circus
Help Chandrasekhar BN, a Software Tester,
beat Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Vol 2 - Issue 3
http
:/
/helpchandru.com/
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I really enjoyed by reading the article. Its very helpful for me to learn more aboutSoftware testing. Could you Please include One More topics in the article regard-
ing how to prepare Test Plan, Test Strategy, how to estimate the Time line for NewRelease Testing and Regression Testing.-Rajasekaran DhanavelHi Raja,Thanks for appreciating our work. We will try to publish topics of you choice in our futureeditions.-Editor.
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Hello,
I went through your Feb11 magazine. Articles are really interesting. I hope youdont mind If I ask you one question. In News on Software Testing section, it ismentioned that Mumbai has done its Mumbai Testers Monthly Meet in Januaryand Pune will start its Pune TMM in March. I am located in Pune, and I want toattend this meet. By any chance you guys have the some details about Pune meet?At least some email ID /phone number of any person who is associated with PuneTMM.I would appreciate if you could help me with this.-Nika KhaladkarHi Nika,You will find the details of Pune Testers Meet at http://pune.indiantestingboard.com/
-Editor
-----------------------
Hello Ajoy and team,Testing Circus is a fantastic magazine. You and your team is doing a great work forthe software testing community. I appreciate that you are putting effort to bringout this magazine every month along with your full time job. Hats off to you.-Rahul SharmaThank you Rahul for your encouraging words.-Editor
Testing Circus
http://twitter.com/testingci
http://facebook.com/testing
Write to [email protected]
Vol 2 - Issue 3
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Letters to the Editor
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Test Coverage : Hownot to miss anything
during testing?
- Ajay Balamurugadas
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One of my friends asked me a question on Test Coverage and I replied to the best of my knowledge. Please fee
free to comment,
Question: How not to miss anything during testing?
My Answer: Let me try to give a brief answer with lots of assumptions about the context. It is a good questionwhich will reveal a lot about the project. Different stakeholders might have different answers.
At the same time, be-aware that not every issue can be found! Not every bug can be found.
Why? Here are some of the reasons:
Difference in Test Environment & Customer Environment
The environment used by the customer might be different from the environment used by the test team.
Are you sure you have the same hardware & software combination on your machine as the customer
machine?
Lack of Information
We have no information on how the customer uses this product! We have information on how the cus-
tomer must use the product but no information on how he uses the product. Note the subtle difference.
Do we collect logs or frequent recordings or any other information which lets us know how the cus-
tomer is using the product? Customer bugs reveal information to only a small extent.
Complete Testing
We do not test every combination. Complete Testing is impossible.
We do not have time to run every test. Our mission might
not be to run all tests.
We do not have resources (machines, testers, money, pro-
grammers and tools) to test each & every possibility.
Method of Usage
I do not see any customer referring to a document other
than help guide (sometimes) to carry out his tasks. He
doesn't use a excel sheet to know what he has to do next.
He does not skip from one component to another.
Most of the times, he uses the whole system (Software +Internet + Hardware - Printers/Controllers) Agree?
So, if we do not test/use the software like the customer,
how can we expect to find the bugs customer finds?
Tough question? :)
If we cannot find all the bugs, how can we improve the product?
How can we find more bugs (assuming finding bugs is one of the
important missions of the project)?
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Test Coverage : How not to miss anything during testing?
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Here are some of the ways which can help us.
Broaden the Test Coverage
Ask yourself are you focusing on only a part of the product?
Can you expand the coverage by expanding the right tests?
Expanding! = Writing more test cases [Expanding is
NOT equal to writing more cases]
Is your testing model good enough? Why not try the Heuristic
Strategy Test Model (HSTM) by James Bach. We both can learn
to use it to the current project.
Understand the Big Picture
Try to understand where the software fits in the big picture.
Ask the right questions to get more information about the proj-
ect. How do you know which is the right question? Any ques-
tion you ask at this stage of the career is a right question!
As experts say, if you are aware that you can be fooled, it is
easy to be not fooled then! I learnt it in one of the Rapid Soft-
ware Testing workshops.
Be aware that you can also make mistakes.
Optimise the Testing Effort
Are you & your team members working as a single group? Is
everyone aware of each others tasks & goals for the project?
Are you aware of the final goal? Can you see where this projectis leading to?
Are you sure the tasks are not overlapping? Are you spending
most of the time on tasks which contribute to the final goal of
the project?
If you answered No to most of the questions, it is high time you
optimize the testing effort. I can help you provide project/product
specific help (if needed)
Improve SkillsWe need to constantly improve our skills as a tester to catch
those bugs which evade us again & again.
Observation, Questioning, Critical Thinking, Creative Think-
ing, Note Taking, Bug Hunting, Bug Investigation, Bug Advo-
cacy are some of the skills important to a tester.
How about improving them?
www.TestingCircus.com March 2011 - 8 -
Ajay Balamurugadas, is a
software tester passionate to
learn to test any software. He
has been awarded scholarship
from Software Testing Club
and is a brown belt student of
Miagi-Do School run by Matt
Heusser. He is co-founder of
"Weekend Testing". Ajay shares
his testing activities and
learning through his bloghttp://EnjoyTesting.blogspot.com
and tweets at
http://twitter.com/ajay184f
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Cloud Computing ServiceA Basic Introduction
- Basant Narayan Singh
I strongly feel that as the cloud adoption rate increases, theSoftware Testing services for cloud applications will rise
rapidly and might increase the challenges of a software
tester. I mean the tester must evolve and realign her/his
thinking to the new trend.
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Whats common between Gartners technology Hype
Cycle Report of 2009 & 2010?
Did you answer Cloud Computing at the peak of
expectations?
Absolutely correct. Like 2009 Hype Cycle Report,
Cloud Computing is still at the peak of inflated
expectations for 2 consecutive years. This has lead to
a lot of buzz around cloud services. With every Glob-
al IT major launching some sort of cloud service,
every now & then, the hype continues to grow. Defi-
nitely, its just the beginning of this emerging trend as
every xyz company, big or small, is ramping-up to
somehow attach this coveted cloud tag to its profile,
either as a provider or as a consumer. But you may
ask what is Cloud Computing? Why is there so much
buzz about Cloud Computing in the tech-industry?
I strongly feel that as the cloud adoption rate increas-
es, the Software Testing services for cloud applica-
tions will rise rapidly and might increase the
challenges of a software tester. I mean the tester must
evolve and realign her/his thinking to the new trend.
Ill take a completely different route to make you
understand what cloud computing is. No theory. I
believe we understand better with examples and
practical scenarios. These scenarios may help you in
understanding Cloud Computing and its need in
current circumstances.
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Cloud Computing Service
A Basic Introduction
Feb. 21, 2011. During ICC Cricket World Cup, India
Furious cricket fans slammed organizers of the World
Cup on Monday as the official ticketing website
crashed amid a scramble for 1,000 tickets available for
the final
---TOI
The official ICC partner for online ticket
sell, Kyazoonga, posted the following message on its
Facebook Fan Page and other social networks.
We are facing absolutely unprecedented amounts of
traffic from all over the world, with hundreds of mil-
lions of people hitting at once. Some of you may have
trouble accessing the site. It seems that cricket fever has
surpassed all anticipations and expectations. Please
bear with us as our global network team works on
bringing you the tickets you all have been waiting for.
--- Kyazoonga FB Page
Everyday 8:00AM to 9:00AM, Since ? Till Date, On-
line Ticket Booking - IRCTC, India
The bookings & enquiry requests are 6-7 times high-
er during the peak hours than the rest of the day. So
while the existing infrastructure is well equipped to
handle the daylong traffic, it is the peak hour traffic
that clogs servers
---What IRCTC can Learn from redBus Cloud Imple-mentation?
June 2009, China
A Chinese website set up so people can inform on
corrupt officials has been inundated with so many
visitors that it crashed shortly after launching.
---BBC
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Perhaps this example made you smile, or perhaps
you are equally worried as well, regarding the level
of corruption! No need to worry, because this also
signifies a huge number of proactive citizens willing
to report it. Look on the bright side.
October 2009, France
A website launched by French first lady Carla Bruni
has crashed on its first day - overwhelmed by the
number of users trying to access it at once.
---BBC
Online mob. Wish I was even half as popular as her!
What inference can we draw from above server
crashes?
These examples of server crashes are but a few
among the hundreds happening almost everywherein the world on a regular basis. What does this indi-
cate? Just one conclusion and that is:
The situation can only get worse. Currently, only
25% of world population, i.e., approximately 1.75
billion people have Internet access. Compared to
Television and other mass media, its still considered
an elite medium of communication. If this meager
Internet penetration has lead to such a significant
number of crashes, what will happen when the Inter-
net becomes a mass medium? India and China cur-rently have approximately 15% or less Internet
penetration. Even a moderate increase in Internet
penetration and usage, say to 50%, will add more
than a billion Internet users! Definitely, too many
clicks to handle. Going by statistics and backed up by
almost double digit GDP growths, they are soon
going to add to this number.
Can you prevent the above scenarios?
Most of you will answer:
But will adding more servers solve the problem, or
compound the problems of companies/organizations
that are already on a tight budget?
Moreover, how many servers do you think will be
enough to handle that kind of traffic? Take a guess.
100? 1000?
Before you guess, let me provide some facts to help you
make a wise guess.
Facebook uses 30,000 servers! (as of October, 2009)
and its adding capacity on a daily basis. Sounds weird
unofficial estimate predicts the number
of Google servers to be an incredible 1 million in its
world wide data centers!
The web sites discussed above are not as big as Face-
book or Google but their spike in traffic on that partic-
ular day may had beaten these giants! Given these kind
of stats, in order to purchase the necessary number of
servers, the organizations/entities involved will fork
out enough money to make them eligible to file bank-
ruptcy protection.
Even if they are financially sound enough to add huge
numbers of servers, just remember the following from
our above scenarios/case study:
Kyazoonga get this exponential surge in the number of
hits once in 4 years.
surge everyday at 8AM to 9AM
gradually reduced to a normal level in a month or so.
only for a week or so.
The above description clearly shows the following
trend:
Most of the traffic spikes are predictable and can be
planned for. So adding thousands of servers to handle
a few days or seasonal spikes in traffic is a humongous
waste of resources.
Solution: Theres one model or style of
computing (Gartner's phrase) which satisfies thefollowing
Common, Location-independent, Online Utility that
is available on Demand.
--- (Chan, 2009)
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So, how is Cloud Computing going to help the enti-
ties mentioned in our above examples? The simple
solution is IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). The
entities (website owners, in our scenario) can simply
use the services of a specialist IaaS cloud provider
for example - Amazon, Rackspace, GoGrid. This
model works just like an electricity subscription, in
the old days, or a mobile phone or Internet usagesubscription in modern times. So
its subscription based, or Pay-as-you-go. If your
demand increases, you simply configure your service
to add more infrastructure. Pay-as-you-go ensures youll never pay anything extra.
This results in a happy customer, or, perhaps more appropriately, a customer who is delighted to be saving
money.
Its just like a magic, sort of, in a moment time you can configure your servers to scale up or scale down (size-up
or size down) based on your need.
This is Cloud Computing in plain English. But Cloud computing is indeed a lot more than what youve read here
in this article. To know more about it, feel free to download (of course, without any registration hassle) -
http://www.techno-pulse.com/2010/09/cloud-computing-ppt-presentation.html
This document is a summary of article series Cloud Computing Service: A Basic
Introduction - 1 (http://www.techno-pulse.com/2009/12/cloud-computing-service-
basic.html ) and is shared only for exclusive use by Testing Circus March Edition. Though,
you are free to use short quotes with proper credit, you may not republish this article
without an approval from the author. - Editor
Basant Narayan Singh is a Day-Dreamer, a Software Engineer
by profession, a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist &
an Instrumentation Engineer by education. He loves to de-
sign & develop software on Microsoft .Net platform. Basant
Narayan Singh writes about cloud computing in his technol-
ogy blog at http://techno-pulse.com and can be reached at
http://twitter.com/SinghBasant
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Be an HONEST Tester!
- Vipul Gupta
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What is my intention of writing all this?
The testing team often faces pressures like the above one during the product development life cycle, they should
always remain persistent in following the mission that is defined for testing. There will be various people on the
top who will sometimes try to build pressures on you, but remember the fact that though these will be decisive
times for you. Never divert yourself from the mission that you are on! Believe me, doing this, you will not only
get self-satisfaction, but will also gain respect of others.
Vipul Guptaleads the Test Engineering R&D at Impetus Labs. As a residenttesting expert, he is responsible for innovating test engineering methodologies
and designing solutions viz. Test360 Degree (integrated toolset and best prac-
tices for mature software product testing), Test Engineering Maturity Model
and iLeap (best practices based test automation platform), to meet the upcom-
ing trends and demands to overall simplify product testing. As a test architect
he is also involved in defining test strategies for various small to large organi-
zations. Prior to this he managed several large to medium testing assignments,
across different verticals for Impetus clients. Vipul is an active contributor to
online testing community and a regular speaker at testing conferences in Indiaand US. To know what he is doing, follow http://twitter.com/vipsgupta
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Promoting Software Testing in Your
Organization
- Rob van Steenbergen
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I had written on ideas and tips for promoting software
testing in an organization in the last issue of Testing
Circus. In this issue I am discussing few more tips.
Tip: If someone asks you to give a presentation
on testing: always say YES!
One of the tips that I listed down in previous issue
was - If someone asks you to give a presentation on
testing: always say yes!
The following may happen:
meeting with presentations
colleagues
you can give the test kick-off presentation
you've always wanted to present
department within your organization about
testing.
Well, always say yes when asked in these situations,
or be proactive and say you want to give a presentation.
There are probably even more situations that you can
create for yourself where you can promote testing
with a positive talk about testing or opportunities to
give a presentation to a larger group of people.
Well, the main tip with telling the testing story is:
do not repeat yourself too much in the various
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How to promote Testing in Your Organization
presentations; you should avoid being noticed as: "No,
not again the same story. After telling the story in the
same way too much people will not listen anymore.
the mirror or for your friend, even your cat or
your dog would be a good audience to practice
on.
presentation. And memorize your presentation
by heart.
sentations.
And dont be afraid to give one next week! The sooner
you start, the sooner it will show some effect.
Tip: Decorate your walls!
Promotional testing tips 2 and 3: Place posters about
testing on a wall, place articles about testing from IT
magazines walls (the test wall?).
Articles from IT magazines and Internet sites
Certainly there are some interesting articles in IT
magazines and on Web sites that relate to the types of
products that are comparable with the products your
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Why do Test Tool suppliers
have such a good sale?
- Marcel Hogenhout
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More and more organizations buy, often very
expensive, licences for having the opportunities
to use test tooling and test automation in their
organization.
Test automation makes a great development at
this moment and surely can help you simplify or
accelerate your testing, or can take care of
executing very complex test cases for you. But...
Unfortunately a poorer development is that lots
of organizations buy licences from tool providers
because of their good Sales Managers, instead of
the right reasons: helping them to test more
efficient and effective. Sales are very able to have
smooth presentation at the customer, with demo's
of how well their (test) tools can do "the" work
and how quick and simple tests can be automated
and then executed. Organizations then take the
risk in buying the tools (or licences) and don't
really know what to do with it. In most cases, after
buying the licences, their test professionals are
instructed to do all the testing with these tools
from now on, even test types that are not suitable
for automation!
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Why do Test Tool suppliers
have such a good sale?
Have new licenses or planning to buy some!? That
sounds nice in itself, but now it appears that we are
not quite able to deal with all these tools. Take care
of "just" to purchase (additional) licenses, we must
make sure that, apart from a well-run development
process, we implement the tooling / test automation
seriously and structured. I notice now at projects
or organizations that they deploy the tools andactually not (yet) have the abilities to use them...
A test tool should not be an purpose in itself, but
an "aid" that supports one or more test activities,
including planning and management, specification
building (initial) test files, test execution and
analysis. Even just for the sake of completeness I
will briefly explain a structured selection and
implementation process of (testing) tools.
Formally, you would have to go through the next
selection process, with a structured tool evaluation
Preparation:
Identify and quantify the problem;
Consider alternative solutions;
Prepare a business case;
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Identify terms;
Identify required tool features and
characteristics.
Selection and Demo:Compile a list of possible tools;
Perform a more detailed assessment.
Proof of concept:
Perform a competitive test / trial run, and
possibly, if necessary:
Identify required changes to the testing
process;
Collect metrics;
Determine actual costs and benefits.
Decision (to take):
If positive:
Based on a successful evaluation;
Negotiate with the tool provider;
Buy tool (and / or licenses).
If rejected / failed:
Restart process;
(If necessary).
Then, a well performed implementation will have
the following steps:
Step 1: Plan the implementation process (start
with a small project to live up to the business case
and to develop a standard approach to use the
tool in your organization), by:
Identifying real test architecture;
Scripting techniques;
Naming conventions;
Configuration management of testware;
Step 2: Manage expectations;
Step 3: Provide training (specialists, users), ideally
an implementation team is working full time on a
pilot project of between 3 and 6 months. Hereby
develop a minimum number of roles:
Champion: the driving force behind the
implementation;
Change agent: planning and managing the
implementation (including the pilot project);
Tool custodian: responsible for technical
support and consultancy.
Step 4: Setting up the tool organization;
Step 5: Pilot in a number of projects;
Step 6: Evaluate;
Step 7: Roll out the tool.
These steps are to prevent inappropriate or
unnecessary tools purchased that ultimately end
up the "shelf"!
For completeness here is why you would you
automate testing?
Saving time (faster testing);
Saving money (cheaper testing);
Increasing quality (better testing, more
complex testing);"Motivating testers" (testers find it nice ...);
Regression testing with less effort.
When to automate testing?
If many tests must be performed (complex);
Many iterations of the same test (regression)
The testing process should be structured!
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Especially the last bullet is important. First bring structure to the process and only then use tools! In
other words, automation of chaos results in computerized automation of chaos! Moreover, first start
small and use pilots ...
So please observe the pitfalls:
Test automation requires a structured test process;
Test automation requires a structured selection and implementation process;
Range of test tools is overwhelming, research, expertise and a selection process is necessary.
Summarized; Structure your test process first, by implementing or improve the right policy and strategy
in your organization. Remember, automate a chaotic test process will result in an automated chaos...
Contact me (www.marcelhogenhout.nl) if you have any questions on the above or want me to help you
with Test Process Improvement, with use market standards like TPI Next, combined with best practices
like the "Quality Blueprint" and "Life Cycle Testing".
Marcel Hogenhout is a testing advisor, with 13 years
of experience in the software testing industry.
Experiences: testing expertise & -design, information
analyse, test- & project management, portfolio
management, process improvement and community
lead testing (@ Getronics and Capgemini). Currently
he is Operational Director & Test Advisor @ Praegus,
an organization with high potential test professionals
with a great focus on test automation, cloud & testing,
test process & -policy and workshops. In 2001 Marcel won a quality reward for an e-test
proposition. Besides testing, Marcel is passionate about gadgets, cloud, SaaS, Web 2.0, Google
and Social Media. Marcel loves music, movies, swimming and poker. Marcel can always be found
at testing events & conferences.
Marcel can be reached athttp://www.marcelhogenhout.nl& http://twitter.com/marcelhogenhout
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Automation Assisted Manual Testing
- Trish Khoo
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Sometimes testing is like pouring a bucket of confetti
on a snow leopard. Have you ever tried pouring a
bucket of confetti on a snow leopard? Probably not,but now that the thought occurs to you, dont you
really want to know what happens? Thats like testing
you want to know what happens when you do
something. But before you can shower the snow
leopard with confetti, you have to buy the confetti,
steal the bucket, walk to the zoo, distract the guards,
break into the leopard enclosure and lure the leopard
out with kitty treats. Its pretty tedious stuff, and all
you wanted to do was the fun stuff at the end. Dont
you wish there was a shortcut?
Tenuous metaphors aside, shortcuts to do tedious
stuff are full of win and not difficult to set up. If you
already use tools to automate tests, its just a matter
of making some handy methods to do common tasks.
Do you already have a test that steals buckets for you?
Just modify it so that you can substitute whatever
values you need to help you do your manual testing
and hey presto, youre already well on your way to
pouring paper on an endangered species.
One simple way to speed things up is to automate data
generation. Chances are that in your everyday testing,
you often require data in a particular format, or
unique data. Each type you have to think up unique
data and type it in you waste valuable time and, more
importantly, you risk losing focus on your original
task.
www.TestingCircus.com March 2011 - 24 -
Automation Assisted Manual Testing
Here's an example of a Ruby script to generate a
somewhat unique email address in the format
joe+[random word]@example.com:
dict = File.open('DictionaryFile')
lines = dict.readlines
email = "joe+" + lines[rand(lines.size)].rstrip +
"@example.com"
`echo #{email} | clip`
puts email
The script uses a text file which contains a long list of
dictionary words. It selects a word at random from thefile, creates a string in the format of the email address
that I need, and copies the string to my clipboard, ready
to be pasted into the form I am testing.
Go faster! Linking data generation to hotkeys
My latest fad is to link up data generation to hotkeys. If
youre using a Mac, you can use the lovely Keyboard
Maestro for this. Otherwise if youre on Windows (like
I am), you can use the less glamorous AutoHotkey,
which gave my antivirus software a small panic attack
when I installed it (which I just ignored, with no dire
consequences so far). Once installed, take a look at the
tutorial. Its quite easy to follow.
At my workplace we already had a few little data
generation scripts written in Ruby, so it was a simple
matter to hook them up to some hotkeys using
AutoHotkey, like so:
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#w::Run ruby random_words.rb 2
#e::Run ruby random_email.rb
#c::Run Ruby random_campaign.rb
Respectively, these lines do the following:
Windows key + w = Generates 2 random words and copies them to my clipboard.
Windows key + e = Generates a randomized email address that will still point to my account and copies it to my
clipboard.Windows key + c = Randomly selects a URL from a list of test email campaigns and copies it to my clipboard.
Trish Khoo works as the Test Lead for Campaign Monitor in Sydney,
Australia. She writes a testing blog at http://trishkhoo.com, occasionally
helps out with Weekend Testing Australia / New Zealand, and organizes
meetups for testers in Sydney.
Trish can be reached at http://twitter.com/hogfish
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Exploratory testing
Exploratory testing is an approach to software testing
that is concisely described as simultaneous learning,
test design and test execution. Cem Kaner, who coinedthe term in 1983, now defines exploratory testing as "a
style of software testing that emphasizes the personal
freedom and responsibility of the individual tester to
continually optimize the quality of his/her work by
treating test-related learning, test design, test execution,
and test result interpretation as mutually supportive
activities that run in parallel throughout the project."
While the software is being tested, the tester learns
things that together with experience and creativity gen-
erates new good tests to run. Exploratory testing isoften thought of as a black box testing technique. In-
stead, those who have studied it consider it a test ap-
proach that can be applied to any test technique, at any
stage in the development process. The key is not the test
technique nor the item being tested or reviewed; the
key is the cognitive engagement of the tester, and the
tester's responsibility for managing his or her time.
History
Exploratory testing has always been performed by
skilled testers. In the early 1990s, ad hoc was too often
synonymous with sloppy and careless work. As a re-
sult, a group of test methodologists (now calling them-
selves the Context-Driven School) began using the term
"exploratory" seeking to emphasize the dominant
thought process involved in unscripted testing, and to
begin to develop the practice into a teachable discipline.
This new terminology was first published by Cem Kan-
er in his book Testing Computer Software and expanded
upon in Lessons Learned in Software Testing. Exploratory
testing can be as disciplined as any other intellectua
activity.Description
Exploratory testing seeks to find out how the software
actually works, and to ask questions about how it wil
handle difficult and easy cases. The quality of the test
ing is dependent on the tester's skill of inventing tes
cases and finding defects. The more the tester know
about the product and different test methods, the bette
the testing will be.
To further explain, comparison can be made of freestyle
exploratory testing to its antithesis scripted testing. In
this activity test cases are designed in advance. Thi
includes both the individual steps and the expected
results. These tests are later performed by a tester who
compares the actual result with the expected. When
performing exploratory testing, expectations are open
Some results may be predicted and expected; other
may not. The tester configures, operates, observes, and
evaluates the product and its behaviour, critically in
vestigating the result, and reporting information tha
seems like to be a bug (which threatens the value of thproduct to some person) or an issue (which threaten
the quality of the testing effort).
In reality, testing almost always is a combination o
exploratory and scripted testing, but with a tendency
towards either one, depending on context.
According to Cem Kaner & James Bach, exploratory
testing is more a mindset or "...a way of thinking abou
testing" than a methodology. They also say that it cross
Exploratory Testing
Information from Internet!
Wikipedia
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es a continuum from slightly exploratory (slightly am-
biguous or vaguely scripted testing) to highly
exploratory (freestyle exploratory testing).
The documentation of exploratory testing ranges from
documenting all tests performed to just documenting
the bugs. During pair testing, two persons create test
cases together; one performs them, and the other docu-
ments. Session-based testing is a method specificallydesigned to make exploratory testing auditable and
measurable on a wider scale.
Exploratory testers often use tools, including screen
capture or video tools as a record of the exploratory
session, or tools to quickly help generate situations of
interest, e.g. James Bach's Perlclip.
Benefits and drawbacks
The main advantage of exploratory testing is that less
preparation is needed, important bugs are found quick-ly, and at execution time, the approach tends to be more
intellectually stimulating than execution of scripted
tests.
Another major benefit is that testers can use deductive
reasoning based on the results of previous results to
guide their future testing on the fly. They do not have
to complete a current series of scripted tests before
focusing in on or moving on to exploring a more target
rich environment. This also accelerates bug detection
when used intelligently.Another benefit is that, after initial testing, most bugs
are discovered by some sort of exploratory testing. This
can be demonstrated logically by stating, "Programs
that pass certain tests tend to continue to pass the same
tests and are more likely to fail other tests or scenarios
that are yet to be explored."
Disadvantages are that tests invented and performed
on the fly can't be reviewed in advance (and by that
prevent errors in code and test cases), and that it can be
difficult to show exactly which tests have been run.
Freestyle exploratory test ideas, when revisited, are
unlikely to be performed in exactly the same manner,
which can be an advantage if it is important to find new
errors; or a disadvantage if it is more important to
repeat specific details of the earlier tests. This can be
controlled with specific instruction to the tester, or by
preparing automated tests where feasible, appropriate,
and necessary, and ideally as close to the unit level as
possible.
Usage
Exploratory testing is particularly suitable if require
ments and specifications are incomplete, or if there i
lack of time. The approach can also be used to verify
that previous testing has found the most importan
defects.
Content Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploratory_testin
___________________________________________
www.TestingCircus.com March 2011 - 27 -
Make A Single DonationA massive earthquake, the seventh largest re-
corded in history, struck the east coast of Japan
on Friday 11 March.
The earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter
scale, triggered a tsunami which hit the east
coast of Japan with 7-metre-high waves, leav-ing a trail of destruction.
More than 2,000 people have died in the disas-
ter and some 2,000 are injured. The number of
confirmed dead is expected to rise to around
10,000. The earthquake triggered fires and
caused severe damage to buildings, leaving 1.2
million homes without electricity and 1.4 mil-
lion without water.
More than 500,000 people have been evacuated
and are being housed in temporary centres set
up in schools and public buildings where the
Red Cross is distributing thousands of blankets.
http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-
Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-
Appeal
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Testing CircusWe are in facebook.Join Testing Circus Fan Club
Get updates and messages directly in your wall.
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The developers spoke first. They said We need to identify
defects that are resolved by us, but are not yet tested by the
test team. Lets have a status Fixed!
The project manager with an eye for metrics spoke next. He
said We would also need to identify defects which have
been opened and not fixed properly by Dev. Lets have a new
status called Reopened. And he whispered to Tanash ---That way, Id also have a bigger status report. Heh heh!!!
The Database administrator, who was in a deep sleep, sud-
denly woke up. He said --- What if I cannot re-create the
defect on my machines? Tanash replied --- But does it ever
occur to you that defects are not a figment of our imagination,
and that its only since they occurred tat we file them in the
1st place? Giving him an angry glare, the administrator
ignores Tanash and tells Delspe That doesnt matter. If Icannot re-create it, I cannot fix it. Delspe plays pacifier and
adds a new status called Non-Reproducible!
Another developer speaks up. What if I see a defect which is
already logged earlier?. Tanash says Then simply close
one of the two defects. Life would be much simpler! Taking
a cue from the database administrator, this developer ignores
Tanash and tells Delspe We need to track the number of
such defects separately. This would also be a parameter for
effective testing. The process manager nodded his agreementsaying We are a CMMi5 company and cannot afford not to
follow CMMi standards. Tanash says When 15 testers
test a project; duplicate defects would definitely come up.
Dont you think that the simplest thing would be to close
them and continue? What I The clients voice on the
telephone says Lets add a status DUPLICATE! Nobody
questions the client. The sales and marketing folks were heard
telling the client Its a brilliant idea! They also went on to
add We are thrilled to see you being so participative in our
calls. We are happy to see you treat us as an extension of your
company.. Tanash tuned out!!!
Having been silent for so long and wanting to contribute to
the meeting, the onsite counterpart says We would need a
classification for defects so that our clients would know that
a defect has been raised, but not have been looked into yet,
since its not yet been assigned. Tanash said You have to
look into each defect based on the priority. Why do you want
to classify what you have seen and what you have not?
Delspe whispered into Tanashs ear Since those onsite folk
usually dont know about the project and the clients keep
badgering them for this information. And a defect statu
called NEWis added.
The onsite folks talk again. He says What if I dont under
stand a defect?. Tanash says then, please call me. I am jus
a phone call away. The onsite folks tell him Maybe we maybe looking into something of higher priority and may not hav
the time to call you. Tanash says In that case, may be the
defect is not that important at all. The developer says We
cannot come across to discuss every minor thing. Lets add
another status Need more information!!! Tanash fel
overpowered!!!
Looking up from his blackberry where he was following the
cricket world cup scores, the business analyst speaks up now
He says What if I dont agree if it is a defect? An exasper
ated Tanash says If you dont agree, then close it!!! The
Development manager thinks and says I have an objectiv
to have fewer defects. Lets add another status Rejected!!!
Delspe simply nods in agreement.
The BA continues Hey, I want a status to indicate I have no
yet looked into the defect. Can we add a status? Tanash say
But isnt it your 1st priority to look into defects? Defec
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triages can go for a long time, you know. The meeting
manager, having been silent till now, speaks up and says
Lets add 2 statuses To be triaged, Being Triaged. Every
morning, we'll do a small triage to decide the defects that
have to be triaged on that day and add it to the "Being
Triaged" bucket. We'll leave the others in the "To be
triaged".. The client speaks up and says Very innovative
and an exemplary suggestion. And the sales and marketingteam sing praises of the client once more, which I am not
mentioning here since it is too redundant.
Now the engineering director mutes the phones and speaks
up We need to indicate defects which we will fix in a
subsequent release. After the meetings over, add another
status Deferred!!!
The training department representative says Hey, this de-
fect is assigned to a developer. But what if he is yet to fix it?
Tanash says So? Add a new status To be fixed. That way,
everyone would know I am working on this defect, but am yet
to fix it. And, also do add 2 more statuses Defect By design,
Existing System limitation The process and metrics
managers nod their agreement and say Excellent idea!!!
The meeting goes on for some more time and more statuses
are added --- Not a Defect, Partially Fixed, Re-assigned,
Withdrawn, Redundant, Pending retest, Pending reject,Remind Me Later, Unconfirmed at the start, Won't fix,
Works for me, Verified in QA Env.
Originally the two nominated defect status list now read -
Open, Closed, Fixed, Reopened, Non-Reproducible, New,
Duplicate, Need more Information, Rejected, To be Triaged,
Being Triaged, Deferred, Defect by Design, Existing System
Limitation, Not a Defect, Partially Fixed, Re-assigned, With-
drawn, Redundant, Pending retest, Pending reject, Remind
Me Later, Unconfirmed at the start, Won't fix, Works for me,
Verified in QA Env!!!!!
The client says that its his lunch time and so, everyone ended
the call.
The training manager was heard saying "Wow. Let's draw
an enormous defect life cycle diagram and add the defect
Life-cycle as a separate course in our curriculum!!!
The testing manager who loved interviewing was heard say
ing Hey, that's 1 great bug life-cycle that you've got in here
Now onwards, asking the defect life cycle is a part of ou
interviews and if anyone gets a status wrong, they canno
become a tester at our company. That way, we would hir
only smart testers!!!
Exerpts from Tanash
thoughts Today, I learnt how w
complicate our life to satisfy idiots.
also learnt to create a complex solu
tion to a simple problem. Bug statuses are created for conven
ience. Why do we let them inconvenience ourselves?
understand that I made a mistake suggesting only two stat
ues. But do we really need 27 bug statuses for our project?
And 35 people spent 1 hour at this call. That means 35
hours of productivity has been lost, but this has been billed t
the client. Should not the focus be more on productivity
quality, instead of Client Satisfaction an
Profitability? Where are we headed? Where are thes
leaders leading us?
Keep reading future issues of Testing Circus to know more!!
Do you have anything to say about fake testing practices
Write to us. [email protected]
By the way, have you seen the blog on fake software testing
Here it - http://fakesoftwaretester.blogspot.com
www.TestingCircus.com March 2011 - 31 -
[A fake Testers Diary was first published in Testing
Circus January issues. New Readers are encouraged to
read the January and February issues to understand the
journey of Tanash as software tester. Editor]
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4th NCR Testers Monthly Meet
4th NCR Testers Monthly meet was held on 12th
of March in Initto Technologies India in Gurgaon. The
meet was attended by more than 40 testers from NCR
region. A brainchild of Vipul Kocher, Ajoy Singha and
Vipul Gupta, the main objective to start NCRTMM is to
build formal/informal platform learning, sharing and
solving problems related to software testing.
Few highlights of the meet of the fourth meet. Ajoy
Singha opened the talk and invited Ritesh Sinha, Direc-
tor Testing of Initto Technologies to for a welcome
talk. Later Mona Thakur of Initto shared few facts and
best practices adopted in testing arena in Initto. Lalit
Agrawal then presented a topic on the trends of regres-
sion testing. Manoj Papneja of FIS Global presented
how continuous integration can help automation
projects. Manojs talk was well discussed and well in-
teracted by attendees. This was followed by tea break.
Navneet Sharma then started the key notes on module
champion versus reshuffling project resources. He dis-
cussed pros and cons of keeping and not-keeping the
same person in same project for a long time. Amit
Kumar of Tarara Systems then shared his thoughts on
what to do and what not to do in software testing. Ajoy
Singha of HCL Technologies emphasized the role of
software testers outside routine work in office. R Sai of
Adobe discussed on what we should learn from our
frustrations.
Anju Bala of IBM India and Ajay Sharma of Firstrain
discussed how to update regression suite and how to
get rid of regression monster using automation tool.
Vipul Gupta concluded the meeting with his closing
comments thanking Initto being a good host and Indian
Testing Board for supporting the meets going.
NCRTMM has decided to conduct a full day softwaretesting conference on 16th April in Noida. The theme i
Agile and Automation Software Testing Trends. This
meet is expected to be attended by celebrated speakers
from all over India.
Ofqual blames flawed software
testing for 'A' level grading errors
Examinations regulator Ofqual has highlighted three IT
problems with the marking system that caused thou
sands of students to receive incorrect GCSE and A-leve
marks in 2010.
A report from Ofqual has highlighed shortcomings in
the way the examination board, Assessment and Qual
ifications Alliance (AQA), dealt with project manage
ment, user acceptance testing (UAT), and software
training for its onscreen marking system, used by GCSE
'A' level examiners.
The marking system was extended to support longerwritten answers to exam questions. However th
project to extend the system to support this did no
adhere to project management best practices, according
to the examination regulator.
The failure in the system, which was used to mark 3.3
million GCSE and 'A' Level exam papers in the summe
of 2010, resulted in 3,353 students receiving incorrec
marks and 622 being issued incorrect qualification
grades.
Software Testing News
*News in Hindi Script.
*
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"AQA could have identified the failure earlier if more
effective risk assessment and arrangements for han-
dling and reporting problems concerning the onscreen
marking of scripts had been in place," said Ofqual.
Isabel Nisbet, chief executive of Ofqual, said: "Factors
that contributed to the marking error included limited
piloting of the on-screen marking system, a lack of
effective risk assessments and deficiencies in the roleand training of examiners on the system."
Ofqual also says AQA did not treat the extension of the
system as a new project, which meant project manage-
ment method, Prince 2 (Projects In Controlled Environ-
ments, version two) was not used and project managers
and business analysts were not assigned to the project.
The regulator's report outlines a "lack of rigour" around
user acceptance testing.
In the report, Ofqual states that the absence of properuser acceptance testing process meant some of the like-
ly process errors were not picked up before the system
was used in a live marking environment.
"The onscreen marking software for the June 2010 ex-
aminations was released later than expected. Testing
was undertaken by IT staff rather than the end users.
The testing focused on the technical functionality of the
marking software rather than looking at the whole
process," said the report.
Source -http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2011/02/23/245563/Ofqual-
blames-flawed-software-testing-for-39A39-level-grading.htm
Software testing firms shift focus
to India
Independent software testing firms are focusing on
India to offset sluggish growth in key markets such as
Europe.
Thinksoft Global Services announced on Wednesday
that it is setting up a sales cum delivery centre at And-
heri in Mumbai to expand regional presence. Maveric
Systems is also planning to strengthen its presence in
Mumbai by bringing in senior management personnel.
AV Asvini Kumar, MD of Thinksoft Global Services,
said in a statement: There are mega plans in India as
the BFSI sector in the country is yet to exploit the poten-
tial of IT deployment.
Ranga Reddy, CEO of Maveric Systems, says the com
pany failed to take advantage of the opportunity ove
the last two years when the Indian BFSI segment was
opening up. It is now trying to shift senior managemen
people from Chennai to Mumbai and also in the proces
of hiring executives to dedicate leadership for the Indi
an market.
Source -http://www.mydigitalfc.com/opportunities/software-testing-firms-shift-
focus-india-825
www.TestingCircus.com March 2011 - 33 -
Testing Circus Blog___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
See our blog for discus-
sion on software testing
topics. Topic that is cur-rently discussed is
Good and Bad Interview Ques-
tions in Software Testing. Many of
our readers have given their opinion
already. You can too post your opinion
in the form of comments. Let us make
the discussion interactive. We willpublish the summarized form of the
discussion in our magazines future
issue.
Few responses that we got from twitter so far -
@riyajshaikh "What is testing?" Good question if it askedby who has done testing and bad if who had not done ever
and still asking. :)
@gkpandey Bad - what is the diff between smoke/sanity
testing. Good - which understanding of differ between
smoke/sanity do you subscribe?
@vipsgupta Not only who is asking, but to whom it is
being asked also makes it good/bad. What if you ask a
fresher about this?
http://testingcircus.blogspot.com/
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Test Case Writing Practice
Naresh Bisht has over 3 years
experience in Software Testing. He
has hands on experience in both
manual testing as well as
automation testing using QTP and
LoadRunner tools. He is currently
employed with HCL Technologies,
Gurgaon. Naresh has been writing
test cases writing column in
Testing Circus from the very 1st
issue. He is an active contributor intesting activities in NCR area of
India.
Naresh can be reached at
http://twitter.com/Naresh_Bisht
*Actual Results are written when you get to test the actual ATM Machine.
In this section we will practice to write test cases on various items, objects and
applications. We do not claim that test cases written here are exhaustive. It is
just to give ideas to testers, beginners on how to approach for writing test cases.
Readers are encouraged to share their views on the test cases.
Naresh Bisht
Requirement - An
ATM Machine.
Objective - To
generate and writetest cases to test an
ATM machine.
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Testers at Twitter
MarkusGrtner
Tester
with
special
interests
in
Agile
methodologies
and
software
craftsmanship,CSM,blackbelttesterinMiagidoschool,author,
conferencespeaker
http://www.shino.de/blog
445Following
768Followers
75Listed
http://twitter.com/mgaertne
MichaelLarsenSoftwareTester,PodcastProducer,Instructor,WeekendTesting
AmericasCoFounder,Husband&Dad,BoyScoutLeader,Snow
boarder...prettymuchsumsitup:).
http://mkltesthead.blogspot.com/
170Following
311Followers
33Listed
http://twitter.com/mkltesthead
ShmuelGershon
I
test
software.
Stats:
5
kids,
4
rooms,
3
cages,
2
buses,
1
tweet
ac
count.
http://testing.gershon.info
348Following
283Followers
24Listed
http://twitter.com/sgershon
PhilKirkhamAprogrammerwhogottestinfected
http://expectedresults.blogspot.com/
345Following
362Followers
33Listed
http://twitter.com/pkirkham
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FollowusatTw
itter
http://Twitter
.com/Tes
tingCircu
s
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DARREN MCMILLAN
Q: How long have you been associated with software testing?
And how did you become a software tester?
A: Its been close to four years now, having finished up as a
fresh faced graduate from University and falling into the land
of software testing by chance, having applied to become a
Network Engineer with the company I now work for.I remember it well; I was running late for a university class
one morning and was just about to catch the train that would
have gotten me to my lecture with minutes to spare, when my
phone started ringing. I took the call, missed my train and
spent the next ten minutes discussing a role as a tester with
the personnel manager of what was then called Graham
Technologies. If Im being honest I wasnt expecting to take the
job, but I went along for the interview in the hope that it would
give me some more experience for when a role as a Network
Engineer came along.The next day I got a phone call saying Id been offered the job,
cool I thought, but I had another interview lined up for a role
I really wanted in the field Id studied in, so I went along to
that and got offered that position as well.
So sadly I informed the first company Id not be taking the
position after all. That day I received a phone call from the
personnel manager whod interviewed me for the first role.
After about thirty minutes of buttering me up as Id call it and
offering me more money I said Id give it some serious thought.
So here I am nearly four years later as a Software Tester,
probably down to money if Im being honest, but hey! Perhaps
it was fate? Id certainly like to think so, as to me this role has
become more than just a nine to five job; its a hobby that I love!
Q: By any means, do you regret being associated with software
testing?
A: I dislike the stigma that some associate with it. I dislike the
lack of understanding in our field by non testers and testers
alike. Testers just test right? Developers, umm, they write
code? Those documentation guys, hmm, well all they ever do
is write stuff. Thats what I and many others want to chang
I really do think the community is doing a fantastic job of
already, bringing more of an understanding of what teste
actually do to each other.
Its bringing that understanding into a common langua
which is understood by all thats the problem. Just nowthink we are some way off from that, having about twen
definitions for every discussed technique.
The bigger challenge though is bringing an understandin
that testers dont just test to the rest of the world. Tha
a challenge we can begin to solve in our workplaces b
bringing understanding of what the modern day role of
tester is and how it has evolved from traditional views
what a tester should and shouldnt do.
Q: Do you think software testing is less respected than othdepartments in IT industry?
A: Possibly, but I think most of that is down to ourselv
sometimes. Do I think documenters earn less respect tha
developers? Possibly, but I think thats down to them as we
If you demonstrate your skills as a testing to others, you
quickly earn their respect. If you collaborate with the
solving difficult problems youll earn their respect. If y
take the time to show you care theyll respect you even mo
Heres a pro tip that will instantly earn you the respect
others, well three tips: Communicate, communica
communicate! While were in there why dont we toss
another three pro tips: Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate
Seriously, dont underestimate the power of both, theyll n
only gain you respect, theyll make you job so much easie
Theyll get you places too!
Q: What will you suggest to people who want to join I
industry as software testers?
A: Firstly just like any job Id ask you to make sure you
actually enjoy it. Now thats the great thing about testin
IIIINTERVIEWWITH TESTERS
Organization Sword Ciboodle
Role/Designation Software Test Engineer
Location Glasgow, Scotland
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we have that open forum to try it out with others via
activities such as the Weekend Testing chapters all over the
world.Secondly if you find you do like it, share your
experiences with others! There must be about two hundred
testing blogs around now? People might be scared theyve
missed their chance for an early audience to share theirexperiences with. Well youve not! If youve got
interesting things to say, people will listen! Now you could
also reverse that question and ask yourselves Why do you
think people dont want to join the IT industry as software
testers? How many like me found a love for testing when
they didnt have intentions to be testers in the first place?
Well no ones teaching testing right? How many
universities offer dedicated courses on Software Testing?
Q: Where do you see software testing in next five years?
A: People think itll change a lot! I dont. Sure new
technologies and tools will appear which will make things
easier and harder in some cases. However, the role overall I
dont think will change much.I hope that understanding of
testing will improve. Hopefully more will recognise that
traditional testing methods dont work in reality and instead
work to becoming diverse, multi talented, social creatures
that all good modern day testers are.Who knows perhaps in
five years time Ill hire a graduate with a degree in Software
Testing?We cant tell the future, what we can do though is
make paths towards a better, brighter future for all.
Q: What qualities will you look for in a candidate when you
want to recruit someone for software testing job?
A: A good communication skill is a key! A bit of an ego is ok.
A bad attitude is a no no! I want team players, who all have
their own qualities that compliment the team. They can be as
opinionated as they like, just as long as were all working
towards the same goal.
Id preferably want you to come to me with your skills o
display. If youve got a blog and write about your experienc
in testing then youve probably got my interest already.
you participate in Weekend Testing sessions or can displa
me some form of testing report and I like what I see youll
doubt get an interview.Im less interested in what you can say and more on what yo
can do! Anyone can answer questions, but how many c
test?
Q: Your weekend routine?
A: Weekends for me are family time! A might get on
Twitter a little bit, but apart from that Ill be spending quali
time with my beautiful daughter and her talented mum, w
despite everything I achieve or might achieve in the futu
will always outshine me just because shes such a wonderfmother.
Q: Movie you would like to watch again?
A: Im a big fan of films! It doesnt even require a good pl
for me to enjoy it, just some action and Im happy.
A film I watched not so long ago that Id like to watch aga
would probably be Kick Ass! What an amazing film!
Id probably have to go with Fallen though since its one
my only favourites that Ive not watched in a few years.
Q: I am a social networking site geek Or I hate facebo
/orkut / twitter?
A: Whats Facebook? Seriously I dont have one, or want o
for that matter. I do love Twitter though!
In fact I could write a whole blog about Twitter and ho
useful it has been in gathering information about testing f
me. If I dont talk to you on Twitter already, look me up an
lets get to know each other! I love getting to know oth
testers.
IIIINTERVIEWWITH TESTERS
www.TestingCircus.com March 2011 - 39 -
Darren McMillan has been working in the testing field for just over three years now
Having only become aware of the vibrant online testing community in the past year, he i
already making big impressions via his web viral blog http://bettertesting.co.uk
With a genuine passion for all things testing he actively seeks to solve the problems other
tend to accept. Having quickly made waves in his workplace he is now seeking to share hi
experiences with others, in the hope that he can help people near and a far. He strongl
believes that opportunities are there to be taken & actively promotes self learning to others
When he is not testing or writing about his experiences he enjoys nothing more than som
quite family time. A proud father to a beautiful daughter he hopes that from leading b
example hell encourage her to follow her own dreams.
Blog/Site http://bettertesting.co.uk
Twitter Url http://twitter.com/darren_mcmillan
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We need people from all over the world.
Become a Testing Circus Representative
(TCR)
Visit our web site for more information.
http://www.TestingCircus.com/TCR.aspx
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June 23rd 2011, Stadion Galgenwaard,Utrecht - The Netherlands
Today, 'Test automation' is a much talked about topic in the
world of software testing and quality. The next generation test
tools facilitates a faster, better and cost-effective test process.
So there is much to gain, but only if we use the right tool in
the right place.
This challenge in the World of Testing has led to thefirst edition of the annual Conference for test automation
practitioners and experts on June 23rd:
Test Automation Day 2011!
The program consists of (inter)national keynote speakers,
best practices and workshops. In collaboration with an
independent Program Committee, CKC Seminars ensures an
interesting day with lots of Test Automation content.
The speakers will contribute to the main theme:
Optimizing the profits of the next generation Test Tools.
One of the top experts presenting on the Test Automation
Day 2011 will be Elfriede Dustin, Software Engineer at
Innovative Defense Technologies (USA) and author
of the book 'Implementing Automated Software
Testing: How to Save Time and Lower Costs While
Raising Quality' (2009).
In short: This is the 2011 Test Event not to be missed!
Register before April 1st, and receive an early bird
discount of E100,- excl VAT.
A unique chance to visit this conference for only E195,- excl VAT!
Register now at www.testautomationday.nl
First edition | June 23rd, 2011
Conference organization and initiative CKC Seminars | Founding partner Squerist
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Testing Circus is everywhere.
Recommend it to your your tester friends.
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Problem: Is it possible to shorten the long line of code in QTP?
Solution: Yes it is possible, You just need to define some temp object like below and you would
be able to replace long code with short words
The long sample code
1. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway").Link("Train Type Information").Click
2. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_2").Link("Train Berth Availability").Click
3. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_3").WebEdit("lccp_src_stncode_dis").Set "new delhi"4. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_3").WebEdit("lccp_dstn_stncode_dis").Set "bang"
5. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian
Railway_3").WebButton("Get Details").Click
6. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian
Railway_4").WebRadioGroup("lccp_trndtl").Select "12628NDLSSBC YYYYYYYYA"
7. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian
Railway_4").Link("+KARNATAKA EXP").Click
8. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian
Railway_5").WebRadioGroup("lccp_trndtl").Select "12650NZM YPR YYYNYNYYA"
9. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_5").Link("+KTK
SMPRK K EXP").Click
10. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to IndianRailway_5").WebList("lccp_quota").Select "Defence Quota"
11. Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian
Railway_5").WebButton("Get Full Fare").Click
'Define temp objects
Set page1=Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway")
Set page2=Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_2")
Set page3=Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_3")
Set page4=Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_4")
Set page5=Browser("Welcome to Indian Railway").Page("Welcome to Indian Railway_5")
'Short Sample Code
1. page1.Link("Train Type Information").Click2. page2.Link("Train Berth Availability").Click
3. page3.WebEdit("lccp_src_stncode_dis").Set "new delhi"
4. page3.WebEdit("lccp_dstn_stncode_dis").Set "bang"
5. page3.WebButton("Get Details").Click
6. page4.WebRadioGroup("lccp_trndtl").Select "12628NDLSSBC YYYYYYYYA"
7. page4.Link("+KARNATAKA EXP").Click
8. page5.WebRadioGroup("lccp_trndtl").Select "12650NZM YPR YYYNYNYYA"
9. page5.Link("+KTK SMPRK K EXP").Click
10. page5.WebList("lccp_quota").Select "Defence Quota"
11. page5.WebButton("Get Full Fare").Click
Jaijeet Pandey has over 5 and
years of experience in Applica
Development, Maintenance
Testing. From more than last 4 y
he is involved in automation teswith QTP and Load Runner to
He is associated with various tes
initiatives in NCR region of In
Jaijeet writes his blog
http://jaijeetpandey.blogspot.co
He is currently employed w
Birlasoft, Noida. He can be reac
at http://twitter.com/jaijeetpand
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NNCCRR TTeesstteerrss MMoonntthhllyy MMeeeett ((NNCCRRTTMMMM)) SSooffttwwaarree TTeessttiinngg CCoonnffeerreennccee
16th
April 2011 Noida, India
Call for PapersIn any profession continuous learning is the sure sign of progress.
For continuous learning, learning culture has to be in place. The
learning culture gets developed either as an individual discipline or
as an outcome of organizational environment where learning and
application of the learning happens in a seamless manner. With the
goal to further learning in the domain of testing, Indian Testing
Board has launched NCR Testers Monthly Meet (NCRTMM) where
testers come together at regular intervals and teach and learn.
NCRTMM started its meet in December 2010 and has continued its
monthly meets till date. As a part of its monthly meet, NCRTMM
has decided to organize a full day Software Testing
conference in Noida on 16th April 2011. This conferenceis focused on exploring innovations, controversies, and challenges
faced by the Software Testing community today. The conference
brings together theory and experience to propose and evaluate
solutions to Software Testing problems. The conference also
provides a forum and an opportunity to assess the current state-of-
the-art in Software Testing and to chart future directions for the
Software Testing community.
Theme for the conference:
Agile and Automation Software Testing TrendsAgile is the buzzword in recent times and the word is used to sell any
and everything. Automation is a painful thing where framework is a
word used to scare the managers and clients alike. Let us combine
this fun or take them separately. Bring your papers that lay bare
the mysteries of Agile, Automation and Agile-Automation.
Instructions to the Authors:Papers will be accepted ONLY BY ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION in
PPT/PDF format. Please include a cover page containing title,
author's name, address, affiliation, e-mail address, telephone
number and topic area.
Write to us at [email protected]
Where to submit:
Send your paper to
Important Dates
Last date of submission 30th
March, 2011
Notification of Acceptance/
Rejection 5th April, 2011
Conference Date 16th April
2011
Organizing Committee
- Vipul Kocher
- Vipul Gupta
- Ajoy Kumar Singha-----------------------------------
Venue Adobe Towers
I-1A, Sector 25A, NOIDA
Website
http://ncr.indiantestingboard.com
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Want to write for us?
See our article submission guidelines
Article submission guidelines
Subject of article can be based on any area of Software Testing. If you want to publishyour article on theme based subject please read our announcement of monthly themepublished in our site. Article can be submitted without any theme based subject.
There is no minimum and maximum length of article. If you feel the article is lengthy,please divide the article into logically separated parts so that we can print them in amonthly series.
Give a meaningful title to the article. If you want a sub-title as well , then add that in adifferent line.
Add images/pictures if necessary. If you are using any image/picture which is not yours
own work, please include the source. Take care of copyrighted materials.
Send us the article in MS word (doc/docx) format only. Pdf files are not accepted.
Write a short write up on the author(s). Usually 7/8 liners in 3rd person descriptivelanguage.
Include photograph of author(s). Preferred in high resolution .jpeg format. Ideal sizewould be 50mmX 50mm.
Mention theme and month of article if applicable.
Send in your article [email protected] a subject line Article for TestingCircus Author Name Title of the article
If you think you can write a column in Testing Circus for at least 6 months, please submit3 articles in advance. We are open to any idea that may improve the user experienceof Testing Circus.
http://testingcircus.com/ArticleGuidelines.aspx
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Founder&EditorinChiefAjoyKumarSingha
AssistantEditors
BrianOsman(Wellington/NewZealand),
GaganTalwar(Mumbai/India),
SelimMia(Tokyo/Japan),
AjaySharma(NewDelhi/India),
AshikElahi(Dhaka/Bangladesh),
AsifIquebalSarkar(Bhubaneswar/India)
CoreTeamJaijeetPandey,NareshBisht,KumarGaurav,SunilGodiyal
PublicityTeamMaheepatiTyagi,AmitAgnihotri,PankajSharma
OnlineCollaboration&AdvertisementBharatiSingha
TechnicalTeamDebasishNath,NasimAhmed,RajatVerma
Volume2 Issue3 March2011
Thecontentspublishedinthismagazinearecopyrightmaterialofrespectiveauthors.TestingCircusdoesnotholdanyrightonthe
material.Torepublishanypartofthemagazinepermissionneedtobeobtainedfromrespectiveauthors.
TestingCircus.PublishedfromNewDelhi/India.Copyright20102011
Testing Circus Team
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