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Test Engineer

Tutorials

MF Acceptance Test-Driven Development: Mastering Agile Testing
Nate Oster, CodeSquads, LLC
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

On agile teams, testers can struggle to keep up with the pace of development if they continue employing a waterfall-based verification process—finding bugs after development. Nate Oster challenges you to question waterfall assumptions and replace this legacy verification testing with acceptance test-driven development (ATDD). With ATDD, you “test first” by writing executable specifications for a new feature before development begins.

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MH Usability Testing in a Nutshell
Julie Gardiner, The Test People
Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

Because systems are now more complex and competition is extreme, testing for usability is critical for ensuring our products not only stand out from the crowd but even exceed our customer’s expectations. As testers, we often encounter requirements such as “The system must be user-friendly.” What does this mean? And, more importantly, how do we test against this vague notion? Join Julie Gardiner as she presents usability testing techniques to help evaluate system efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction.

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TE Measurement and Metrics for Test Managers
Rick Craig, Software Quality Engineering
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 8:30am

To be most effective, test managers must develop and use metrics to help direct the testing effort and make informed recommendations about the software’s release readiness and associated risks. Because one important testing activity is to “measure” the quality of the software, test managers must measure the results of both the development and testing processes. Collecting, analyzing, and using metrics is complicated because many developers and testers are concerned that the metrics will be used against them.

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TF Design for Testability: A Tutorial for Devs and Testers
Peter Zimmerer, Siemens AG
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 8:30am

Testability is the degree to which a system can be effectively and efficiently tested. This key software attribute indicates whether testing (and subsequent maintenance) will be easy and cheap—or difficult and expensive. In the worst case, a lack of testability means that some components of the system cannot be tested at all. Testability is not free; it must be explicitly designed into the system through adequate design for testability.

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TG Agile Project Failures: Root Causes and Corrective Actions
Jeff Payne, Coveros, Inc.
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 8:30am

Agile initiatives always begin with the best of intentions—accelerate delivery, better meet customer needs, or improve software quality. Unfortunately, some agile projects do not deliver on these expectations. If you want help to ensure the success of your agile project or get an agile project back on track, this session is for you. Jeff Payne discusses the most common causes of agile project failure and how you can avoid these issues—or mitigate their damaging effects.

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TM Security Testing for Test Professionals
Jeff Payne, Coveros, Inc.
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 1:00pm

Your organization is doing well with functional, usability, and performance testing. However, you know that software security is a key part of software assurance and compliance strategy for protecting applications and critical data. Left undiscovered, security-related defects can wreak havoc in a system when malicious invaders attack. If you don’t know where to start with security testing and don’t know what you are—or should be—looking for, this tutorial is for you.

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TQ Patterns for Collaboration: Toward Whole-Team Quality SOLD OUT
Janet Gregory, DragonFire, Inc.
Matt Barcomb, odbox
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 1:00pm

A lot of talk goes on in agile about how collaboration among team members helps drive a shared responsibility for quality—and more. However, most teams don't do much more than just hold stand-up meetings and have programmers and testers sit together. Although these practices improve communications, they are not collaboration! Most teams simply don't understand how to collaborate. Janet Gregory and Matt Barcomb guide you through hands-on activities that illustrate collaboration patterns for programmers and testers, working together.

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Concurrent Sessions

BW8 Oh, WASP! Security Essentials for Web Apps
Benny Paul, Cognizant Technology Solutions
Wed, 11/13/2013 - 2:15pm

The past few years have seen a rapid increase in business efficiency through Web-based applications. Unfortunately, a dramatic increase in the number of web application vulnerabilities has followed. Insecure web applications can be disastrous for mission critical businesses and users' sensitive data. More than 70 percent of security vulnerabilities are due to flaws in the application rather than firewall breaches. Bennie Paul explains how security testing has become an indispensable part of the SDLC for businesses operating online today.

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BW12 Game Changing Practices in Software: Data from Recent Benchmark Research
Michael Mah, QSM Associates, Inc.
Wed, 11/13/2013 - 3:45pm

As agile practices become mainstream, compelling patterns are being revealed about defect rates, time-to-market, and effort/staffing. Industry data from QSM Associates reveals that many companies grapple with collocation, pair programming, offshoring, and combining agile with waterfall methods. Some of the best teams find significant schedule and quality implications that are literally redefining the economics of software; others are not. What factors make a meaningful difference?

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BT4 Continuous Automated Regression Testing to the Rescue
Brenda Kise, Proto Labs, Inc.
Thu, 11/14/2013 - 10:15am

A major concern when developing new software features is that another part of the code will be affected in unexpected ways. With a typical development processes, testers often do not run a full set of product regression tests until late in the release when it is much more costly to fix and retest the product. Continuous automated regression testing to the rescue! Brenda Kise describes the team, project, and organization value and benefits of continuously performing automated regression tests throughout the development process.

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BT7 Building Your Own Personal Brand
Jennifer Bonine, tap|QA, Inc.
Thu, 11/14/2013 - 2:15pm

Unfortunately, many people focus solely on their jobs and day-to-day task delivery rather than building their career. This often results in careers that happen by accident, rather than by design. How can you build a personal brand that you can refer to when making conscious choices about your next career move? How can you build your dream career while delivering the greatest value to your organization? Jennifer Bonine describes the tools she uses in leadership sessions to help people begin the process of defining their own personal brand.

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BT11 The Personal A3 Approach for Developing People
Bob Payne, LitheSpeed
Thu, 11/14/2013 - 3:45pm

Organizations invest high levels of effort setting up elaborate employee performance tracking systems. In fact, these costly and onerous processes may even drive the wrong behaviors if inappropriate metrics are selected or employees learn to game the system. However, a simpler and more effective approach to personnel development is right in front of us. Bob Payne describes the Lean A3 problem solving and communication tool that can be used to improve processes and create a learning culture.

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