Some thoughts on testings...

[J. Landman Gay]

Andrew Meit wrote:
> I recently had been forced to move all my files to my ibook and make it 
> my main computer while I figure out what to do with my old iMac G4 LCD 
> dying...while doing so, I came across a file I saved and thought it 
> important to post on the list in light of the open beta of 2.7.5...read 
> slowly:

This post was just excellent, thanks for passing it on. I couldn't agree 
more with the points the author makes. In almost every professional job 
I've done, the client says they will test the software themselves. This 
is usually disasterous. No one seems to recognize that the testing 
process should take as long as the development process and should be an 
integral part of the budget and schedule. Few realize the kind of talent 
and precision that goes into professional software testing.

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful professional QA person who works 
with me when the client's budget allows it. I understand the author's 
comments about "hurting the developer's feelings" -- I always knew when 
my tester was at work because my mailbox would fill up with bug reports. 
My response was always a love/hate thing. I loved that he was so good at 
what he does and that he was finding flaws, because in the long run it 
would make my work much better. But I also hated that he was finding 
flaws because it meant more work for me. Every time I'd see another 20 
reports in my mailbox my heart would sink. And then I'd have to go fix 
things again.

But he's a great guy, and we're both pros, and we are able to easily 
separate critique from criticism. As a result, my last project was one 
of the best of my career. Note that this client originally told me he'd 
test it himself. He found three or four bugs over a couple of weeks. I 
insisted that we needed a professional QA engineer. Once my QA guy got 
his hands on it, he found 165 bugs.

The client was astounded -- and grateful. There is a skill and talent 
involved in software testing, and not everyone has what it takes to do 
it well. The developer certainly doesn't, and the client rarely does 
either. A qualified, professional QA person is pure gold, and if you 
find a good one you should do whatever it takes to hang on to them.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com