August 29th, 2014
If you grew up in the 1990s you will remember the science fiction program 'The X-Files' where agent Mulder had to convince a skeptical agent Scully that aliens did exist. Well unlike aliens, test automation is not something you have to believe in or not believe in, automation exists and it works.
Read More
August 26th, 2014
Traditional software development estimating techniques are slow, long lasting exercises and as such are totally unsuited to Agile processes. New methods of estimating have emerged which fit the Agile model, requiring minimal effort to provide ‘just enough’ information to support prioritization and decision making. The popular unit of measurement for Agile sizing is the Story Point. Read More
August 22nd, 2014
Our project management system - Spira, contains several standard features for bug-tracking, two of which often get confused, and are often asked about in training classes. These two are Priority and Severity. They are touched on in the manual, but here it is from the point of a tester.
Read MoreAugust 19th, 2014
The enthusiasm these days for Agile development is rightly deserved, but with so much being written and said about Agile development, there should be room for healthy debate. While Agile development has proven to be a huge step forward and the right approach for many projects, it is important to continue to ask questions in order that we don’t start to endorse the bad along with the good. We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but we can’t keep the bathwater just to avoid the risk of doing so. An occasional examination of principles being promoted and used within the industry helps to maintain Agile methods as the best alternative to traditional development practices for many projects.
In this series of blog postings we shall discuss some of the characteristics of various Agile methodologies and ask whether the ideas are valid or whether they are in fact, industry myths.
Read MoreAugust 15th, 2014
With all the Agile methods out there, how does someone with traditional waterfall or v-model experience begin to understand each? Which methods are truly Agile and which are not? What are the defining characteristics of each Agile method, as well as those not quite so Agile? What are the benefits of using each Agile method and what are some of the drawbacks? Read More
August 12th, 2014
SpiraTeam v4.1 introduced a new feature allowing you to create requirement workflows. This feature allows you to create a workflow that models your signoff process. The question that begs is - what should my requirements signoff process look like...
Read MoreAugust 8th, 2014
This article discusses some of the earliest attempts at crowdsourced QA and extreme agile development that predate the agile manifesto and where they went wrong. Read More
August 5th, 2014
When I collected my last car from the dealership, the salesman proudly showed me under the hood. The engine was tightly packed into the available space with no separately recognizable components and it was noticeably clean. Despite his apparent pride in its power, as he quoted a list of figures representing liters, horsepower and torque, all I was thinking about was getting behind the wheel and driving away.
When he finally got around to the interior I had all but forgotten that the car even had an engine. I know I am not alone in my attitude when it comes to cars for while there are those who love to get down-and-dirty with the internal workings of the internal combustion engine, most of us just want to drive it.
Read More