Here is our monthly selection of knowledge on programming, software testing and project management. This month you will find some interesting information and opinions about engineering culture, automated tests, project management, self-organizing engineering teams, test cases, the Deming cycle, Agile transformation, team facilitation and open source reporting tools.
Text: Why you should care about engineering culture, even if you’re not a developer A few years ago I was not aware of company culture, when interviewing for developer positions I never inquired about it. What I cared about was flexible hours, being measured based on my work (not how many hours I spend at the office), and my salary. That kind of thinking landed me in companies I quickly left. The kind where management sets deadlines, the VP of R&D doesn’t know what debugging is, where no tests are written and developers are called to the office in the middle of the night to personally explain production failures, despite having fixed them from home. (Seriously, wouldn’t a phone call been enough?) That’s when I started caring about engineering culture.
Text: Are Automated Test Retries Good or Bad? Since testers typically rerun failed tests as part of their investigation, why not configure automated tests to automatically rerun failed tests? On the surface, this seems logical: automated retries can eliminate one more manual step. Unfortunately, automated retries can also enable poor practices, like ignoring legitimate issues. So, are automated test retries good or bad?
Text: How do I feel worthwhile as a manager when my people are doing all the implementing? It took years for you to develop reliable instincts as an engineer, right? Then you switched careers and went right back to beginnerhood. That rarely feels good. So just don’t worry about it. Try not to obsess over how well you’re doing or not doing. Just engage your beginner brain, set phasers to “curiosity!” and actively pursue every learning opportunity for a year or two. Your judgment will improve. Give it time. But experienced managers still struggle with this too. So if that’s you: let’s talk.
Text: The art of self-organizing engineering teams High-performing teams feel like magic. The way their members work together is mesmerizing, and the feats they accomplish are mind-blowing. So, it is no wonder that we want to know what makes those teams special.
Text: Don’t Overthink Test Cases Test cases have been a large element of testing activities for the last 20+ years. While they are representations of testing activities, having a strict regime around their format backfires into trust issues and bureaucracy. Elaborate test case specifications go against the primary purpose of the testing activity they are to support.
Text: The Deming Cycle, lean and agile I first worked in an agile team as part of an engineering management team that led a successful agile transition. I wanted to learn more about what agile was, so read widely about lean and agile. I found that the books I read all referred to W. Edwards Deming and often referred to the Deming Cycle. When I studied the Deming Cycle it was very familiar to me, and I found that there was a good reason for this. Scrum uses the Deming Cycle and I was a member of a Scrum team.
Text: Innovative Approaches to Software Testing and Quality Assurance In the dynamic and fast-paced world of software development, the significance of robust software testing and quality assurance (QA) practices cannot be overstated. These processes are vital for ensuring the reliability, performance, and user satisfaction of software products.
Video: Inhibitors Sabotaging an Agile Transformation Agile transformations are difficult, and often simply fail. After all, change is usually disruptive. Even an organization that wants to embrace change can see mediocre results. The underlying causes vary from ignorance on how to transform, to full and hostile resistance.
Video: From Good to Great: Agile Team Facilitation Working in collaborative, self-organizing Agile software development teams can be challenging. It is important that all team members understand the group dynamics involved and how to effectively facilitate these sessions.
Video: The Road to Reliable Test Automation Test automation that works is something we strive to achieve in software testing, and sometimes it is difficult to do. Tests fail randomly, and it is not easy to pinpoint the reason for failures.
Tools: Open Source Test Reporting Tools Running automated tests is a good thing for software quality assurance. Now you have to understand the results of the current test run. You could also be interested to see how your tests results evolve over time. To achieve these goals, you need a tool to produce meaningful tests reports and there are some open source tools to help you do this.
Tools: Mock Service Worker is an open source API mocking library that allows you to write client-agnostic mocks and reuse them across any frameworks, tools, and environments.