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Software defect reports are among the most important deliverables to come out of software testing. They are as important as the test plan and will have more impact on the quality of the product than most other deliverables from the software test team. It's worth the effort to learn how to write an effective defect report that conveys the proper message and simplifies the process for everyone.

Rapid testers don't think of test automation merely as something that controls a program and checks for some expected result. Instead, we think of test automation as any use of tools to support testing. With that definition in mind, it may not be the most obvious automation tool that is the most useful.

As a test professional in waterfall, I was used to getting the code much later and buggier than I expected and being under tremendous pressure to finish my testing before the go-live date hit. Then one day, I found out that there was a better way. Testers could be involved much earlier in the lifecycle, they could participate in requirements and design decisions as they happened, and the code could actually be unit tested before I received it! Heaven? Nope, agile.

The author walks you through the details of actually implementing a continuous quality automation infrastructure. He builds up an example that addresses both the key principles and feedback cycles.

I begin this story by declaring up front that I am not an "Agilist" or process evangelist. I am the senior software development executive in a company responsible for delivering products to the marketplace. Like my peers across industries, I am fundamentally held accountable by my company for consistently delivering business results. Process and methodologies are important in delivering this value, but in the eyes of the company they are secondary to meeting the needs of the business.

Agile is a methodology that is seeing increasingly widespread adoption, and it is easy to understand why - especially if you consider the developer and user view-points. But, for the Test/QA professional an agile approach causes discomfort - In the ideal world they would have a ‘finished' product to verify against a finished specification. To be asked to validate a moving target against a changing backdrop is counterintuitive. It means that the use of technology and automation are much more difficult, and it requires a new approach to testing, in the same way that it does for the users and the developers.

As Agile software development practices mature and move into the mainstream, it is vital that organizations understand how Agile practices can help you deliver higher quality software. The Agile is a methodology for software development that promotes development iterations, open collaboration, and adaptability throughout the project life-cycle. Currently, the measures within many Agile projects focus on the successful delivery of software. We refer to these as process measures. Software is the end product and while these measures examine the progress through the delivery, there are other critical measures that need to be assessed. This collection of measurements we refer to as results measures. One critical measure that is often overlooked is called stability. That being said, the true measure of quality cannot be measured until after the project is done and the software is in production. I am not talking about improving the defect density.