Category: Testing Techniques
Do you know what happens when the power goes off?
August 16, 2010
This news article where a hairdresser’s client went bald after a power loss in the salon reminded me of a test I frequently forget to run. Power off your system or server while in the middle of testing and look for problems. You’ll most frequently find issues if you aim for a power outage – […]
Comparing files and alternatives(?) to Diff
May 28, 2010
Continuing the ‘what tool’ theme from last week, today’s topic is ‘Diff’. I frequently install windows versions of various Unix command line utilities via the Gnu Utilities for Win32 project. Diff is particularly handy not just for the programming side of automation, but also for comparing output files from automation as well as database queries. Occasionally […]
Claims testing in the wild
October 2, 2008
As yet another poor internet soul is scammed by a man pretending to be a woman in online chat rooms, I’m reminded of the sensibility of my number one internet heuristic. Jared’s first law of online safety is ‘Assume that everyone you are talking to online is a man’. This has held me in good […]
What are your users doing (or interview techniques for project analysis)
December 6, 2007
For the first time, I’m helping run planning sessions for an agile project. Planning has been a bit of a bugbear for me on many of my recent projects, so I’m excited to have a chance to try some things out. So far, it seems to be going well. It’s a short project, so I […]
The Egg testing challenge, context and mission
August 17, 2007
Matt Heusser is describing his challenge to test various inanimate objects – An egg, a stapler, a salt shaker and a knife. Read it here, but be sure to come back for the rest of the problem. I’d now like you to spend a few minutes thinking about how you might go about testing an […]