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Featured Sessions and Speakers
| WEDNESDAY, OCT 31, 9:15 AM | No Best Practices: How to Think About Methodology
James Bach, Satisfice, Inc.
How do the things you hear at a conference relate to the choices you make on the job? If you really want to help improve how your projects work, don't be a passive transceiver of “best practices.” Instead, be an active thinker who understands why methods work and when to apply them. James Bach illustrates how some often-recommended practices aren't necessarily helpful unless you use your skill and judgment to adapt them to your particular situation. |
 | | James Bach is founder and principal consultant of Satisfice, Inc., a software testing and quality assurance company. James cut his teeth as a programmer, tester, and SQA manager in Silicon Valley and the world of market-driven software development. He has worked at Apple, Borland, a couple of startups, and a few consulting companies. These days, he mostly teaches and consults on rapid software testing and test management practices. |
| | WEDNESDAY, OCT 31 , 10:30 AM | Designing an Automated Web Test Environment
Dion Johnson, Pointe Technology Group, Inc.
Winner of best presentation and best technical paper at STAREAST 2001, this presentation offers an alternative to the typical automated test scripting method of “record and playback now, enhance the automated environment later.” In it, you’ll explore an automation system designed for testing Internet applications, along with scripting techniques to enhance the scalability and flexibility of your automated test suite. Dion Johnson also describes what base scripts need to be created, how to optimize the use of scripts through wild cards, and how to create reusable functions to speed up the automation process. |
 | | Dion Johnson is a senior test consultant for Pointe Technology Group, Inc. He’s responsible for providing IT consulting services that focus on the overall system development lifecycle, with particular focus on the quality assurance and quality control elements. Prior to joining Pointe Technology Group, Dion was with Bell Atlantic, where he led a number of major testing efforts including an automated testing initiative. |
| | WEDNESDAY, OCT 31, 4:30 PM | Create Your Own Luck: Get Organized for Test Success
Rex Black, Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc.
Some test groups have all the luck … or do they? Many of the most successful test groups have used organizational tactics and cultural initiatives to “make their own luck” when it comes to testing. Though many factors come into play during any testing project, four of the most critical are: clearly defined roles, early involvement in development, the sharing of test data and tools across test levels, and a project culture that understands and values the test group’s contribution. While achieving these goals requires hard work, there are realistic steps test managers can take to construct the type of organization that leads to testing success. Based on his extensive experience with different types of test teams, Rex Black highlights the most effective ones, then maps out measures your team can implement to create their own luck. |
 | | Rex Black is president and principal consultant of Rex Black Consulting Services, Inc. He and his associates help clients like Bank One, Dell, Netpliance, Reef, and others with implementation, consulting, training, and staffing for testing and quality assurance projects. His current book, Managing the Testing Process, was published in June 1999. His next book, tentatively titled Critical Testing Processes, will be published in 2002 |
| | THURSDAY, NOV 1, 9:00 AM | Testing in the eXtreme Programming World
Robert Martin, Object Mentor, Inc.
Much attention has been given to the topic of lightweight development processes — especially eXtreme programming (XP). Robert Martin explains the concept and significance of a paradigm that believes acceptance tests should be defined by customers, and requires developers to write the unit tests before they write the code. He then separates the difficulties from the benefits inherent in this relatively new discipline. By cutting through the controversy, he’s able to address the essential issues such as environmental possibilities and the need for XP. But most importantly, he addresses the question: What is the relevance of software testing and testing professionals within XP? |
 | | Robert Martin has been a software professional since 1970. He’s president of Object Mentor, Inc., a firm of highly experienced experts that offers high-level, object-oriented software design consulting, training, and development services to major corporations around the world. Co-author of the book XP in Practice, he’s also acted as author and chief editor on a number of other texts. Robert is a regular speaker at international conferences and trade shows. |
| | THURSDAY, NOV 1, 3:45 PM | The Best of the New Testing Techniques
Ross Collard, Collard & Company
In the testing profession, we live in a blizzard of new ideas, reminders about how to obtain value from old ideas, and other helpful advice. That's part of being involved in a vigorous, fast-evolving field. But which promising leads should a test professional pursue? Ross Collard offers a perspective on the most promising new techniques and ideas from industry and academia. He gives direction on where test professionals and managers should focus in order to improve their effectiveness. He also surveys recent trends in the application of new ideas, and provides examples of where they have — and haven't — worked well. |
 | | Ross Collard is a consultant currently working on testing and quality assurance projects for American Express, Citibank, Dell, General Electric, and Nortel. He has a master’s degree in computer science from California Institute of Technology and an MBA from Stanford. He teaches courses on testing for the University of California Berkeley. |
| | FRIDAY, NOV 2, 9:00 AM | Bug Hunting: Going on a Software Safari
Elisabeth Hendrickson, Aveo
This presentation is about bugs: where they hide, how you find them, and how you tell other people they exist so they can be fixed. Explore the habitats of the most common types of software bugs. Learn how to make bugs more likely to appear and discover ways to present information about the bugs you find to ensure they get fixed. Drawing on real-world examples of bug reports, Elisabeth Hendrickson reveals tips and techniques for capturing the wiliest and most squirmy critters crawling around in your software. |
 | | Elisabeth Hendrickson in an independent consultant specializing in bug hunting. She also automates tests, grows teams, and helps organizations improve by identifying the leading causes of defects in their software. With over a dozen years of experience in the software field, Elisabeth has seen numerous species of software bugs. |
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