Archive for Business
News media are increasingly creative in finding sensation names for software bugs. “Rogue Algorithm” is the latest.
Read MoreGordon Crovitz’s Wall Street Journal editorial “Who Really Invented the Internet?” (July 23, 2012) generated a lot of blowback owing to factual errors in his recounting of how certain network technologies were developed. As he used this story to support a broader case for limited government, the responses were often vituperative. Although…
Read MoreI’ve developed a systematic methodology to design a mobile app test suite and offer an online course that teaches this methodology. http://www.udemy.com/how-to-test-mobile-apps/
The course assumes manual testing, but is completely applicable to testing with any automated tool. Click here to view the course notes, which incude a list of specific design…
A few days ago, I participated in a panel discussion on open source tools for testing at the QUEST conference with the two founders of Selenium: Jason Huggins of Sauce Labs and Simon Stewart of Google.
Before the panel started we chatted a bit with the moderator. We couldn’t come up with…
Read MoreTechnical debt refers to aspects of a codebase are incomplete, deficient, obsolete, or buggy. This can occur for many reasons: insufficient time, uncertainty, omissions, poor workmanship, or poor management. This is termed “debt” because it will take additional time and money to correct, update, or revise.
Technical equity refers to aspects of a…
I discussed the following inventory of open source and free model-based testing tools in a recent QUEST panel session.
After checking each tool, it is clear there’s wide variation in maturity, stability, and provisioning. I see five groups
Binaries: an installable available without source code.
Fielded: a codebase that has an active user community using the tool for non-research work, at arms-length with…
Technical Equity is the value that accrues when a software system is well-formed. Instead of burdening you with unnecessary excess cost, your codebase works for you. Technical equity pays dividends: you avoid wasted effort and the consequences of buggy releases, and gain the advantage of releasing sooner and/or with more features,…
Read MoreTechnical Bankruptcy occurs when technical debt overwhelms a software system. I’ve previously blogged about a case study – how the accumulation of poor development practices resulted in the business failure of highly successful Enterprise IT software company.
The technical debt metaphor provides a nice handle for a software development trade-off…
Read MoreI’ve been reflecting on the recent announcement that Encyclopedia Britannica (EB) will no longer publish in print. Subscription to its web site is now the only offered media.
My full set of the 15th edition (1974) rests on the lower two shelves of a bookcase in the room where I’m writing this…
Read MoreThrough Google Circles, I happened to see David Welton’s very interesting reflection on the Tcl programming language (posted in 2010):
http://journal.dedasys.com/2010/03/30/where-tcl-and-tk-went-wrong/
About ten years ago, I chose to develop a commercial automated software testing tool with Tcl and Tk. This post explains that decision and its consequences.
Despite testing tools that tout ”visual programming”…
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