open sourcing testing
DESCRIPTION
EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference 2012 presentation on open sourcing testingTRANSCRIPT
OPEN SOURCING TESTING EUROSTAR 2012 CONFERENCE
08 NOV 2012
JULIAN HARTY Contact me: [email protected]
MY AIM… To answer, in part
What sorts of things would help us be better testers and do better testing?
OPEN SOURCE
DEFINITIONS & SCOPE
OPEN SOURCE Public Available for Study, Use & Modification The Open Source Definition http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd
OPEN SOURCE TESTING Publish • Charters, Tests, … • Environment • Data • Techniques • Results • Assessment • Code
PERMISSIVE COLLABORATIVE
HEADLINES
STATE OF THE NATION
HEADLINES Certification schemes
Best Practices
Death of the Tester: James Whittaker • StarWest 2011 - All That Testing is Getting in the Way of Quality • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOrPuMCdVXA
The Future of Quality: Goranka Bjedov • http://www.belgiumtestingdays.com/program.php?p=12
The growth of open source test automation tools • Mobile test automation • Web test automation
WHY? Enlightened self-interest
Professionalism / Engineering Practices
Improving the craft
Renovate our testing
Feedback loops
SIMILAR PRACTICES
OPEN SOURCE TESTING
SIMILAR PRACTICES EXPERIENTIAL
Peer Workshops Let’s Test Conference
EVIDENCE
Scientific Method (in Software Testing)
Open Data
PRACTICE
Code Retreats Test Automation Workshop Hackathons
SHARING
Open Innovation Blogs Open publications
WHAT IS SCIENCE?
C Weidemann’s material at Let’s Test 2012
OPEN DATA Government Initiatives • http://data.gov.uk/ • Freedom of Information Act
Scientific Initiatives
• Distinguish Publishing Data from Publishing Papers http://www.springerlink.com/content/m15520un02772l61/fulltext.pdf
WE’RE SPECIAL!
CONTEXT
WE’RE SPECIAL… REALLY? We like to believe we are • special, • unusual, • better than average[1]
[1] "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average," Garrison Keillor: Lake Woebegon http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/
I’M SPECIAL REVISITED…
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
MORE CONTEXT
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
WHAT DOES IT DO?
Exhilaration Stimulating Exhausting Scary?
CONCERNS
Political aspects? Who are our competitors? Who are we competing with?
EFFECTS
Acceleration First among equals
WHO ARE WE COMPETING WITH?
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
BENEFITS
OPEN SOURCE TESTING
BENEFITS SCOPE
Me Team Project Company Country Community Industry
STAKEHOLDERS
Testers Business Boss Customers End Users
BENEFITS Repeatability Review Correction Refinement & Enhancement Community education Attracting better people to your organisation? Freedom to invest & reap the rewards of the investment Evolution vs. Repetition
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?
OPEN SOURCE TESTING
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? Levels 0. Sufficient to assess and reproduce 1. Permit modification and enhancement
2. Encourage competition
Minimum Investment?
• Multiples of 30 minutes[1] • Flows of investment
[1][ http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/book/
THINGS TO CONSIDER
OPEN SOURCE TESTING
CONCERNS TO CONSIDER Protecting • Privacy • Secret Sauce
Overcoming • Stiction, Lethargy, Vested interests, Employment contracts
Risking • What are we gambling? • What are we afraid of?
New practices and business models Not a panacea • Open not necessarily High Quality!
SUCCESS FACTORS
Sustainability
Benign Dictators
What do you want to optimise situations and outcomes for?
Merit-based feedback
Ask “What can I share?” that doesn’t risk “too much”
Maintaining and encouraging good quality
sqa.stackexchange.com
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
OPEN SOURCE TESTING
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
Legal Structures
• Creative Commons
• Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Licenses
IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
OPEN SOURCE TESTING
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder
IF NOT YOU, WHO?
Opening the Kimono • Be open and be open to correction • The tester, tested?
http://www.hackingwork.com/wp-content/uploads/HWChaps1-4.pdf
Breaking stupid rules for smart results
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18735/18735-h/18735-h.htm