Skip to main content
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 - 3:45pm - 5:00pm
Business Analysis & Requirements
BW10

Specification by Example: Stop Testing at the End

Even the fastest agile teams can struggle when we “test at the end.” As automation efforts fall behind, untested features pile up, and so does the pressure to cut corners. By contrast, Specification by Example “tests first” by writing automated specifications for new features using concrete examples in plain language. This collaboration focuses everyone—from analysts and customers through developers and testers—to the same definition of “done.” Join Nate Oster as he explains his skeptical journey from traditional testing to Specification by Example. Nate shares the hard-won wisdom and real-world problems of successful test-driven teams at startups through multinationals. Traditional test scripts obscure the behavior of your product with long procedures and technical details. Instead, we can briefly describe even complex behaviors using specific examples. At each stage of the agile testing journey, Nate illustrates how you can apply these practices right away with your own teams.

Nate Oster, CodeSquads, LLC

An agile player-coach and founder of CodeSquads, Nate Oster helps clients adopt lean and agile methods. Nate builds high-performance teams that adapt to change, embrace a pragmatic philosophy of continuous improvement, measure progress with new features, and deliver high-quality software that delights customers. As a coach, he inspires adopters with hands-on mentoring and simulations like The Kanban Racing Challenge, which provide a safe learning environment for new ideas. He promotes testing as a serious technical discipline.

read more