STARWEST 2011
Keynotes
All That Testing Is Getting in the Way of Quality
James Whittaker, Google
“You can't test in quality” is so cliché that it has to be true. Testing is an inherently negative discipline. It never proves quality has been attained—only that it has not. Perhaps it is time, once and for all, to do away with the traditional bug-finding tester role and come up with a better alternative. James Whittaker discusses the diminishing value of the old school testers in today’s software engineering practice and reveals what testers should really be doing instead of simply looking for more bugs. At Google, James has discovered that the role testers should play is one that makes them a part of software construction and elevates their position from a reporter of the negative to a producer of the positive. Learn how Google has embedded professional testers into its development teams and discover the activities they perform that have much more impact and value than merely reporting bugs and playing gatekeeper. Take back a playbook for elevating your testing game and ways you can positively impact software quality above and beyond finding and reporting bugs.
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James Whittaker
I Didn't Know I Knew That: A Story of Self-Learning
David Hayman, Qual IT Software Testing Solutions
During our testing careers, many of us are given the “opportunity” to test a system with which we have no experience—where the domain, the technology, or both are completely new to us. Rather than saying “Sorry, I can’t do this job”, perhaps you should embrace the opportunity, accept the challenge, and dive in! David Hayman shares the story of his journey testing a system that was new to him—establishing what he knew, what he thought he knew, what he didn’t know and had to learn—and dealing with many surprises along the way. During his journey, David elicited the help of friends and colleagues, found surprising sources of information about the system, and discovered new inspiration and determination from within. His lessons learned illustrate an approach you can use to establish and develop new testing skills while working within the bounds of limited knowledge. David’s experience taught him a lot about himself—and what some passion, trust, and ingenuity can do. Take back some for yourself!
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David Hayman
Lightning Strikes the Keynotes
Lee Copeland, Software Quality Engineering
Lightning Talks have been a very popular part of many STAR conferences throughout the years. If you’re not familiar with the concept, a Lightning Talk session consists of a series of five-minute talks by different presenters within one presentation period. For the speakers, Lightning Talks are the opportunity to deliver their single biggest-bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation. And now, lightning has struck the STAR keynote presentations. Some of the experts in testing—
Michael Bolton,
Jennifer Bonine,
Hans Buwalda,
Lee Copeland,
Dale Emery,
Bob Galen,
Julie Gardiner,
Dorothy Graham,
Jeff Payne, and
Martin Pol—will each step up to the podium and give you their best shot of lightning. With no time to dither or vacillate—and hemming and hawing forbidden—you’ll get ten keynote presentations for the price of one and have some fun at the same time.
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Lee Copeland
Testing Lessons from Comic Book Superheroes
Rob Sabourin, AmiBug.com
Over the years, Rob Sabourin has discovered testing lessons in diverse places—the Simpsons, the Great Detectives, and Dr. Seuss. Join Rob for a raucous, new adventure as he shares his testing lessons from the world of comic book superheroes. Rob believes these superheroes can teach important lessons about software testing and may even inspire you to become a “supertester.” Superheroes have mythic adventures: escaping from strange planets, becoming irradiated, avenging crime, and more. Rob explores the skills of real-world supertesters. Batman’s utility belt is filled with tools to get him out of danger—with his utility belt of tools and techniques, a supertester can quickly ferret out serious bugs. The Hulk’s strength does the work of many people—supertesters develop design skills to build powerful tests. X-ray vision allows Superman to detect hidden enemies—supertesters uncover almost invisible defects lurking in systems. A tingling “spidey-sense” warns Spiderman of imminent danger—supertesters develop a perceptive, risk-exposing intuition. Take the first step toward becoming a supertester and get on the path to being a superhero in your organization.
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Rob Sabourin
Test Automation Magic: Pushing the Frontiers
Krishna Iyer, ZENTest Labs
Mukesh Mulchandani, ZENTest Labs
The evolutionary cycle of test automation appears to have hit a plateau. Krishna Iyer and Mukesh Mulchandani believe it is time to push the frontiers again for another cycle of improvements. Together, they describe how you can improve your test automation, with results that others will see as sheer magic. They describe a number of cutting edge ideas including automatic documentation of manual test cases, algorithms that will select the best automation scripts to run when you don't have sufficient time to execute them all, visual modeling of test automation to create new scripts from existing ones in a fraction of the time, and automation frameworks that disappear after test cases are built. Krishna and Mukesh also challenge traditional automation ideas such as automating only when the application is stable. Drawing from their experience automating testing on large-scale financial systems, they showcase newer approaches including a radical and more effective way to evaluate tools for compatibility with your product.
Learn more about
Krishna Iyer,
Mukesh Mulchandani
