What I have seen with these two enterprises is a growing trend towards what I will refer to as “developer charged testing”.
I like to learn about things that make me consider what I do, why I do it, how I can do it better… I like to read a lot to keep myself up to date about what I need to know, what I need to learn, how I can improve my skills, how I can better serve my team/project/stakeholders.
I have a great deal of respect for Microsoft, especially under Bill Gates. To me, they "write the songs"... They made user experiences change through the years, they orchestrated what we all see out there today…
And you should already know my love/hate forGoogle by now, if not, go back and check out the previous blogs on the subject…
So why do they come up again, you ask?
These prize enterprises do not seem to need a manual tester in their organizations…
Why does this bother me?
Perhaps because I am selfish, I AM a manual tester…
Perhaps because I think there is something between developer and tester that is a totally different mindset...
Today I think it is because I was involved in a conversation that related to my own personal project, that made me have to think about some things…
I work on a pretty good size team. I have to say, this is a stellar team… brilliant… I venture to say most, if not all of the team, really wants success at the end of the day. Not personal success, but overall success, for the team… for the stakeholders… for the customers… it’s a great feeling to know you are mostly, if not all, working to the same goal…
I hope I said enough to show how much I value the team I work with… before I point out what I believe was a fallacy of thought by one of the members of the team…
In this world of Agile/Scrum, it is said that all members should be able to step in and help out on bottle necks of the “time frame” of development. Sounds good, actually sounds like the perfect team concept…
Except… not all team-mates are equal… not all are able… not all can so quickly volunteer to do so…
This concept, to me, appears to be geared towards getting things moved to “Done”, not in actually being correctly done….
Let me elaborate on the point I am trying to make here…
As an avid researcher, I look to see what is missing more than what is actually here… I am not even beginning to talk about “crazy testing” ideas, just missing pieces…
I work with a few developers (few to me is usually 3, maybe 4) who will report defects they find while they are coding, whether in their code or in other code that interacts with theirs… Gotta say, they ROCK! But, dare I say, the majority are not at this level…
Like testers, the same is true for developers… some do it for love, others for their career and the end result of such…
So, who keeps it in check? And, if the Agile/Scrum method says all team mates can step in and help each other… does that mean the Business Analyst’s should step in and help code if development is bottlenecked? Or does that mean I do? Trust me, you don’t want that…
I took a couple classes on coding… I found I did not want to “create” anything, I simply like “gathering information”…. And passing it on. I like study/research/learning/understanding… I did not want to “code”. Does that make me less worthy to be on the team… I guess that depends on what the goal of the team is… what the goal of the project is… what the stakeholders want…
I have read some blogs/articles not too long ago on testers being tired of hearing about “analogies” of testing, I personally am tired of hearing about developer-testers being the Coup de Grace of non-developer testers...
To me, it takes a bit of each element to make a successful release to customers…
Does anyone else see this trend? Or its possible effect on the end results?
4 comments:
Amen! I gave up the dream of ever working at Google long ago. I've tried (and am still trying) to learn to code, but I just don't have a passion for it. So I get frustrated before I really /learn/ anything.
Everytime I read a post like this the internal worry builds in me. I begin to question if my career will ever really go anywhere due to this /trend/.
Hi David,
Don't let the "internal worry" build in you. Build on the skills that DO make you an asset in testing, and build on your confidence to provide value to the stakeholders of your project...
There is a thought that a tester will head in one of two directions: manager or developer... I am not sure where that thought originated, but to me, I want neither.
I am happiest when I get the opportunity to just test...
Where ever you want your career to "go", just work towards it with all you got, and you will get there :)
Michele,
I've been in this testing business for a long time. One thing I have learned over the years is that there are no "Best Practices". There no one magic way to do our work.
Remember, what works for two of the largest software/technology companies in the world may not necessarily work for other companies. The systems that Microsoft and Google are testing, and the resources they have at their disposal are certainly not the same as the systems and resources I have.
I really enjoyed How We Test Software at Microsoft and got a lot out of it. I look forward to reading How Google Tests Software.
I learn something from almost everything I read, and try to constantly add to my company's testing repertoire. But I never feel like their way will be my way.
Hi Joe,
I totally agree that what works for two of the largest software/technology companies in the world may not necessarily work for other companies...
And, I too, shall be purchasing and reading the How Google Tests Software book. I also read many books/articles/blogs/etc. on testing and many other subjects that touch on it and lots that don't. I may/may not agree with the things I read, but I have learned to "eat the meat and spit out the bones"...
I don't disregard what other companies do, if it works for them and their customers are satisfied, then more power to them... I just sometimes get tired of folks that are somewhat removed from testing getting "ideas" that because the top software/technology companies make so much profit with the way they do things that it "should" work for all software across the board.
What they don't sometimes see is the audience that is using the software/technology. Sometimes the audience is a lot smaller and a lot more focused on the intricate details of the product. Sometimes, while they use/need the application/product, they may not be tech savvy...
And sometimes seemingly simple bugs/issues make it past developers who test because they are simply implementing code and testing that it does what is required... Testing and development mindsets are different.
A possible example of this can be had with Vista and the UAC dialog box. As a tester, it brought me hours of enjoyment and plenty of bug reports... However, it brought a lot of pain and cost to development/stakeholders/consumers.
As a tester, I would have suggested that a checkbox be applied to this dialog box that says, "don't ask me again" for the particular product that I was attempting to launch - to begin with... This little change could have meant a lot less annoyance to a lot of folks...
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