The Latest
Testing XML Documents for Information Content[presentation] More and more applications are generating XML documents as their primary or secondary outputs because XML is much easier to parse than traditional formats. However, simple string comparison is often too naïve to properly test XML documents. |
Elliotte Harold, Polytechnic University
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Let's End the Defect Report-Fix-Check-Rework-Cycle[presentation] Find out how teams transitioning to Agile practices must re-think their workflows and project metrics originally designed to handle many hundreds of defect reports that occur in typical testlast development cycles. |
Richard Leavitt, Rally Software Development
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The Next Stop in Test Automation: Test Environment Setup[presentation] To achieve the most effective test automation, you need to go beyond automated test case creation and implement automated environment setup. |
Amit Mathur, VERITAS Software Corporation
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Systematic Techniques for Fault Detection and Isolation[presentation] Selecting the appropriate testing techniques and test cases improves test efficiency, reduces time to market, and gives you confidence that the system is ready to ship. |
Madhav Phadke, Phadke Associates
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How Much Quality is Enough?[presentation] Are you striving for more quality than you really need? How would you know? "Good enough" quality does not mean "substandard" or "mediocre" but is actually an optimal and responsible economic principle we use everyday. |
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How Much Building Is Too Much?[article] Staged integration versus continuous integration—which does your team prefer? Can't decide if one is better than the other? In this column, Johanna Rothman explains that you can create the perfect blend of the two. Developers and testers benefit from frequent builds, but be careful with how much you build. Build too much or too little and a project could topple. |
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Issue Priority and Severity[article] There are several topics that can trigger near religious fervor in software developers--languages, indentation, and comments come immediately to mind. One of Peter Clark's personal favorites is the relationship of issue priority to issue severity in defect tracking systems. Just what the heck do all those levels mean, anyway? In this week's column, Peter describes a solution that his company devised to clearly define the characteristics of severity and priority and help them better understand how the two work together. |
Peter Clark
December 30, 2005 |
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Changing Minds About Context Switching[magazine] Turn to The Last Word, where software professionals who care about quality give you their opinions on hot topics. This month, Johanna Rothman explains what technicians can do to convince management that context switching in the technical world is a sure-fire means to a late project. |
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A Look at Canoo WebTest[magazine] Need to get the scoop on the latest software tests and trends? You've come to the right place. Get one reviewer's opinion of Canoo WebTest, an open source tool that supports Web application development through test automation. |
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The Short Management Lifecycle[magazine] Every manager has a story to tell. Find out how one management professional tackles a fictional dilemma. The story may be made up, but the solutions are tried and true. In this installment, Patrick Bailey tells the harrowing tale of a skilled technician-turned-manager who finds himself in a sticky situation with his CEO. |
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The Good, the Bad, and the Agile Customer[magazine] What do you do when assigned the role of project customer, with a team that has never worked with a customer, building an application that was barely thought out? Sound like a nightmare? It doesn't have to be. Find out how one project manager beat the odds to produce a high-quality, on-time release. |
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Sustainable Change[magazine] We're pleased to bring you technical editors who are well respected in their fields. Get their take on everything that relates to the industry, technically speaking. In this issue, Brian Marick suggests three ways to combat recidivism on your projects. |
Brian Marick
December 29, 2005 |
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Metrics Motivation[magazine] Typical metrics are used to predict an outcome by comparing plans to actual results. They are objective and don't influence what you are trying to measure. Biased metrics, on the other hand, are a valuable tool for deliberately altering behavior to improve the performance of a group. Find out how biased metrics can be used on your projects to pinpoint problems in specific areas and to influence people to fix them. |
Jan Scott
December 29, 2005 |
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Model Driven Architecture: It's Not Your Father's UML[magazine] Software engineering has come a long way, but programmers still spend a lot of time on tasks that could be automated. Fortunately, there's model driven architecture with its new generation of modeling tools that go way beyond the average UML. Learn how MDA addresses the challenges of today's highly networked, constantly changing systems environment and provides an architecture that assures portability, platform independence, productivity, and much more. |
Timothy Korson
December 29, 2005 |
Brushing Up on Functional Test Effectiveness[magazine] What does dental floss have to do with automated functional testing? More than you might think. Learn from one Agile practitioner how you can apply the tenets of good oral hygiene to your functional tests for requirements artifacts so effective they'll make you smile. |