STARWEST Software Testing Analysis & Review
 
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STARWEST 2011
Monday Tutorials
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MA
Risk-driven Testing with the STEP™ Process C Full-Day Dale Perry, Software Quality Engineering Whether you are new to testing or looking for a better way to organize your test practices and process, the Systematic Test and Evaluation Process (STEP™) offers a flexible approach to help you and your team succeed. Dale Perry describes this risk-based framework—applicable to any development lifecycle model—to help you make critical testing decisions earlier and with more confidence. The STEP™ approach helps you decide how to focus your testing effort, what elements and areas to test, and how to organize test designs and documentation. Learn the fundamentals of test analysis and how to develop an inventory of test objectives to help prioritize your testing efforts. Find out how to translate these objectives into a concrete strategy for designing and developing tests. With a prioritized inventory and focused test architecture, you will be able to create test cases, execute the resulting tests, and accurately report on the effectiveness of your testing. Take back a proven approach to organize your testing efforts and new ways to add more value to your project and organization. Learn more about Dale Perry
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MB
A Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing New Full-Day Michael Bolton, Developsense You're under tight time pressure and have barely enough information to proceed with testing. How do you test quickly and inexpensively, yet still produce informative, credible, and accountable results? Rapid Software Testing, adopted by context-driven testers worldwide, offers a field-proven answer to this all-too-common dilemma. The “rapid” approach isn't just testing with speed or a sense of urgency; it's mission-focused testing that eliminates unnecessary work, assures that the most important things get done, and constantly asks how testers can help speed up the successful completion of the project. Rapid testing focuses on both the mind set and skill set of the individual tester, who uses tight loops of exploration and critical thinking skills that help to continuously re-optimize testing to match clients' needs and expectations. In this one-day sampler of the approach, Michael Bolton introduces you to the skills and practice of Rapid Software Testing through stories, discussions, and "minds-on" exercises that simulate important aspects of real testing problems.
Participants are strongly encouraged to bring a Window-based laptop computer to the workshop.
Learn more about Michael Bolton
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MC
Adapting to Agile C Full-Day Dale Emery, DHE When a development team adopts an agile process such as Scrum or XP, testers find that their traditional practices no longer fit. The extensive up-front test planning and heavyweight test documentation used in traditional development environments just get in the way in an agile world. In this workshop you experience the transition to agile through a paper-based simulation (no programming required). In a series of iterations, the team attempts to deliver a product that the customer is willing to buy, thus generating revenue for the company. As with real projects, turning out a working product on a tight schedule can be challenging. After each iteration, your team reflects on key events and adjusts to increase productivity for the next iteration. Learn to apply the principles of visibility, feedback, communication, and collaboration to increase the team’s rate of delivery. By the end of the workshop, you will have an intuitive understanding of agile and, in particular, the shifting role of Test/QA in agile development. Learn more about Dale Emery
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MD
Managing Successful Test Automation C Full-Day Dorothy Graham, Software Test Consultant Many organizations never achieve the significant benefits that are promised from automated test execution tools. What are the secrets to test automation success? There are no secrets, but the paths to success are not commonly understood. Dorothy Graham describes the most important automation issues that you must address, both management and technical, and helps you understand and choose the best approaches for your organization—no matter which automation tools you use. If you don’t begin with good objectives for your automation, you will set yourself up for failure later. If you don’t show return on investment (ROI) from automation, your automation efforts may be doomed, no matter how technically good they are. Join Dorothy to learn how to identify achievable and realistic objectives for automation, show ROI from automation, understand technical issues such as testware architecture, pick up useful tips, learn what works in practice, and devise an effective automation strategy. Learn more about Dorothy Graham
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
ME
SOLD OUT
How Google Tests Software New Morning James Whittaker, Google Google is a company that releases complex software rapidly to millions of users worldwide. Have you ever wondered how Google does testing? James Whittaker unveils the secret sauce of Google test practices. From developer-oriented unit testing, to the mystical role of the Software Engineer in Test, and to the role of Test Engineer that even a lot of Googlers don't fully comprehend, no testing topic is off limits. James shares how Google achieves high quality in a developer-centric company where the developer-to-tester ratio is incredibly lopsided. He then explores how Google executes with a test organization that is independent of product teams. At the end of the session, James previews the tools Google testers are releasing to the open source community and what all this can mean for testing in your organization. Learn more about James Whittaker
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MF
A Test Leader’s Guide to Agile C Morning Bob Galen, iContact Much of the work of moving traditional test teams toward agile methods is focused on the individual tester. Often, the roles of test director, test manager, test team leader, and test-centric project manager are marginalized—but not in this session where we’ll focus on agile testing from the test leader’s perspective. Join experienced agile test leader and long-time coach Bob Galen to explore the central leadership challenges associated with agile adoption: how to transform your team’s skills toward agile practices, how to hire agile testers, how to create a “whole-team” view toward quality by focusing on executable requirements, and how to create powerful doneness criteria. Beyond the tactical leadership issues, Bob explores strategies for becoming a partner in agile adoption pilot projects, making changes to test automation strategies, and how to reinvent your traditional planning and metrics for more agile-centric approaches that engage stakeholders. Learn more about Bob Galen
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MG
Product Risk Assessments for Better Testing New Morning Erik van Veenendaal, Improve Quality Services BV Although most projects implicitly use some kind of risk-based approach for prioritizing testing activities, critical testing decisions should be based on a thorough product risk assessment process with key business drivers as the foundation. Erik van Veenendaal presents PRISMA—PRoduct RISk MAnagement—a practical method for performing systematic product risk assessments. Erik describes how to carry out risk identification and analysis, and explains how to use the outcome to select the best test approaches. Learn how to use PRISMA in both traditional and agile projects, including creating an agile sprint test plan. Erik shares his practical experiences, the problems he’s overcome, and results he’s observed employing product risk assessments. Learn how to optimize your test effort by including product risk assessments in your testing practices. Develop a rigorous approach to inform project stakeholders about important testing decisions and provide clear visibility on product risk status. Learn more about Erik van Veenendaal
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MH
Becoming a Trusted Advisor to Senior Management C Morning Julie Gardiner, Grove Consultants Testing generates a huge amount of raw data that must be processed, analyzed, summarized, and presented to management so that effective decisions can be made quickly. As a test manager or tester, how can you present information about your test results so that decision-makers receive the correct message? Using her experiences as a test manager and consultant, Julie Gardiner shares ways to communicate with and disseminate information to management. Develop your skills so you become a “trusted advisor” to senior management rather than the classic “bearer of bad news.” Discover innovative ways to keep the information flowing to and from management, and avoid losing control of the test process, particularly near the delivery date. Learn how to deal effectively with various controversies that often prevent senior managers from taking you seriously. Learn more about Julie Gardiner
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MI
How to Break Software: Robustness Edition New Morning Dawn Haynes, PerfTestPlus, Inc. Have you ever worked on a project where you felt testing was thorough and complete—all of the features were covered and all of the tests passed—yet the software had serious issues and problems in the first week in production? Join Dawn Haynes to learn how to inject robustness testing into your projects to uncover those issues before release. Robustness is the degree to which a system operates correctly in the presence of exceptional inputs or stressful environmental conditions—an important and often overlooked area of testing. By expanding basic tests and incorporating specific robustness attacks, Dawn shows you how to catch defects that commonly show up in production. She offers strategies for making robustness testing a project-level concern so those defects get the priority they deserve and are fixed before release. Even if your test team is over-tasked and under-resourced, join Dawn to learn about robustness tests you can add to your suite and execute in just a few minutes. Learn more about Dawn Haynes
Monday, October 03, 2011 8:30 AM
MJ
Leadership for Test Managers C Morning Rick Craig, Software Quality Engineering For years, managers of every ilk have attended courses on various aspects of “management.” Although the word “leadership” has recently become the new buzzword of choice, many of today’s courses, books, and articles are repeats of the same basic management theory we’ve known for years. Not so with this tutorial session! Retired Marine Colonel Rick Craig engages participants with such provocative questions as: Are leaders made or born? What leadership traits do the best test managers exhibit? How can you develop a personal leadership style for your test team and organization? Who is responsible for the morale and motivation of test team members? Join this session to be challenged on how you can become a better—even great—leader within your organization’s structure and corporate culture. Learn to apply leadership principles to testing, explore the impact and importance of influence leaders, and learn how to “sell” testing within your organization. Leave with new skills and a renewed enthusiasm for leading your test team. Learn more about Rick Craig
Monday, October 03, 2011 1:00 PM
MK
Leading Change (Even If You’re Not in Charge) C Afternoon Jennifer Bonine, Up Ur Game Learning Solutions Has this happened to you? You try to implement a change in your organization and it doesn’t get the support that you thought it would. And, to make matters worse, you can't figure out why. Or, you have a great idea but can’t get the resources required for successful implementation. Jennifer Bonine shares a toolkit of techniques to help you determine which ideas will—and will not—work within your organization. This toolkit includes five rules for change management, a checklist to help you determine the type of change process needed in your organization, techniques for communicating your ideas to your target audience, a set of questions you can ask to better understand your executives’ goals, and methods for overcoming resistance to change from teams you don’t lead. These tools—together with an awareness of your organization’s core culture—will help you identify which changes you can successfully implement and which you should leave until another day. Learn more about Jennifer Bonine
Monday, October 03, 2011 1:00 PM
ML
Exploratory Testing Explained C Afternoon James Bach, Satisfice, Inc. Exploratory testing is an approach to testing that emphasizes the freedom and responsibility of the tester to continually optimize the value of his work. It is the process of three mutually supportive activities done in parallel: learning, test design, and test execution. With skill and practice, exploratory testers typically uncover an order of magnitude more problems than the same amount of effort spent on procedurally scripted testing. All testers conduct exploratory testing in one way or another, but few know how to do it systematically to obtain the greatest benefits. Even fewer can articulate the process. James Bach looks at specific heuristics and techniques of exploratory testing to help you get the most from this highly productive approach. James will focus on the skills and dynamics of exploratory testing, and how it can be combined with scripted approaches. Learn more about James Bach
Monday, October 03, 2011 1:00 PM
MM
Production Performance Testing in the Cloud New Afternoon Dan Bartow, SOASTA, Inc. Testing in production for online applications has evolved into a critical component of successful performance testing strategies. Dan Bartow explains the fundamentals of cloud computing, its application to full-scale performance validation, and the practices and techniques needed to design and execute a successful testing-in-production strategy. Drawing on his experiences, Dan describes the methodology he has used for testing numerous cloud applications in a production environment with minimal disruption. He explains how to create a performance testing strategy to give your team critical data about how your online application performs and scales. Learn how to create a robust lab-to-production ecosystem that delivers the answers about what will happen when peak traffic hits your site. Take back practical approaches to mitigate the three most common problems—security, test data, and live customer impact—that arise when designing test plans. Learn more about Dan Bartow
Monday, October 03, 2011 1:00 PM
MN
SOLD OUT
Agile Testing: After the First Year, What’s Next? New Afternoon Janet Gregory, DragonFire, Inc. Your team—and you—have survived a more-or-less successful transition to agile development. You feel pretty good because the programmers have mastered test-driven design and are creating automated unit test during programming; you have automated at least some portion of your acceptance and regression tests. Although it’s great to succeed through the initial transition, new challenges arise that can be even more difficult to overcome. Focusing on teams that have at least a year’s experience using agile values, principles, and practices, Janet Gregory will present common testing-related problems encountered by these more experienced agile teams. Join Janet in this interactive session to explore ways to manage technical debt within test assets, improve continuous delivery practices, and better understand what the customers really want. You’ll participate in group discussions and exercises to practice advanced agile techniques, including finding the story size “sweet spot,” applying “lean” approaches for improve testing productivity, and refactoring your automated test design for a better return on investment. Learn more about Janet Gregory
Monday, October 03, 2011 1:00 PM
MP
Free and Cheap Test Tools C Afternoon Randy Rice, Rice Consulting Services, Inc. Too often, testers have limited time and little or no money to purchase, learn, and implement commercial test tools. However, the most effective testers have accumulated and regularly use their own personal toolkit of free and cheap test tools. Since 2001, Randy Rice has been researching such tools and has compiled a set of tools that he and many others in his consulting practice have found very helpful. Randy shares a plethora of tools that you can employ to add power and efficiency to your test planning, execution, and evaluation. He’ll present and demonstrate tools for pairwise test design, test management, defect tracking, test data creation, test automation, test evaluation, web-based load testing, and more. Randy shows you how to make the case for incorporating free and open-source tools into organizations that may resist such tools. Learn how you can combine these tools to achieve greater test speed and better test coverage—at little or no out-of-pocket cost. Learn more about Randy Rice


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