STAREAST 2011 - Software Testing Conference

PRESENTATIONS

End-to-End Testing: The PLACE to Be

The latest development technologies–web services, SOA, SaaS, cloud computing, agile practices, and more–have increased our ability to rapidly implement new systems to support ever-changing business needs. At the same time, testers are expected to create suites of tests that exercise systems from end-to-end, testing all parts of the system together. Ruud Teunissen explores ways to create and maintain end-to-end tests that are representative of the full application landscape.

Kees Blokland, Polteq Test Services B.V.
Exploratory Validation: What We Can Learn from Testing Investment Models

Over the past few years, the airwaves have been flooded with commercials for investment-support software. Do your research with us, they promise, and you can make scads of money in the stock market. How could we test such a product? These products provide several capabilities. For example, they estimate the value or direction of change of individual stocks or the market as a whole, and they suggest trading strategies that tell you whether to buy, hold, or sell. Every valuation rule and every strategy is a feature.

Cem Kaner, Florida Institute of Technology

Freshen Up Your Software Testing Skills

As software testers, how do we keep our skills fresh and up-to-date? In our line of work, there is always another build to test, more testing than we have time for, and small training budgets. Selena Delesie explains why skills improvement is critical for both individuals and organizations to succeed, and explores ongoing opportunities for you and your team to learn and practice new test skills.

Selena Delesie, Delesie Solutions

Fuzzing and Fault Modeling for Product Evaluation

Test environments are often maintained under favorable conditions, providing a stable, reliable configuration for testing. However, once the product is released to production, it is subject to the stresses of low resources, noisy–even malicious–data, unusual users, and much more. Will real-world use destroy the reliability of your software and embarrass your organization? Shmuel Gershon describes fuzzing and fault modeling, techniques used to simulate worst-case run-time scenarios in his testing.

Shmuel Gershon, Intel Corporation
Half-Truths about Agile Testing

Organizations of all sizes are rapidly adopting agile application development methodologies. Because agile has primarily focused on how developers work, much of the testing community has been at a loss as to how to achieve their mission within agile. Misconceptions abound about how testing should be conducted in this new paradigm. The debate has some arguing that organizations should completely abandon traditional testing methods and tools when adopting agile.

Clinton Sprauve, Borland (a Micro Focus company)
How to Win Friends and Influence People - and Deliver Quality Software

Since first published, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People has motivated generations of aspiring leaders to polish up their people skills. Yet imagine the reaction of a typical software quality assurance or test professional opening the book and reading the first principle: Don't criticize, condemn, or complain. "Don't criticize? Isn't that a tester's job!" They turn to the next chapter to find: Give honest and sincere appreciation.

Andy Kaufman, Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development, Inc.

I'm Going Mobile: Testing Mobile Applications for Fun and Profit

In this lightning talk from STAREAST 2011, Jonathan Kohl discusses testing mobile software and takes a look at some of the differences between mobile and traditional software.

Jonathan Kohl, Kohl Concepts Inc.

Insights into Mobile Applications Testing

The phenomenal growth of mobile devices has opened avenues for organizations to integrate them into their mainstream computing environment. Today's mobile applications deliver complex functionality on platforms that have limited resources for processing and testing. Unlike the PC-based environment, the mobile world is comprised of a wide range of devices with diverse hardware and software configurations and communication intricacies. This diversity presents unique challenges and requires unique testing strategies.

Rumesh Palaniswamy, Cognizant Technology Solutions
Making Sense of Extroverts and Introverts

Have you worked with someone whose communication style or behavior frustrates you? Extraverts and introverts exhibit significant differences in interaction preferences and work styles; they also differ in what, when, and how they communicate. Such differences can cause frayed nerves, misunderstandings, reduced productivity, and poor results. The good news is that extraverts and introverts who understand this dynamic can form powerful teams, benefit from each other's strengths, and laugh about their differences.

Naomi Karten, Karten Associates
Managing with Metrics

Many consider metrics a thorn in the side of software test and development efforts. However, when used properly, metrics offer critical insight into underlying issues within projects. In addition, metrics can provide vital real-time information for strategic and tactical project adjustments. Based on his experiences during a major acceptance test project within a lengthy ERP implementation, Shaun Bradshaw demonstrates how an optimal set of test metrics steered the effort toward success.

Shaun Bradshaw, Zenergy Technologies

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