The Latest

	Preparing to Choose a CM Tool[magazine] Do your homework when shopping for a CM tool. This article teaches you how to bypass the marketing hype to select the tool that will work best with your company's processes and tasks.	William Rinko-Gay July 31, 2002
	Why Nobody in Our Business Can Estimate[magazine] Tim Lister gives three examples of software project failures that resulted from poor estimates. The main problem? Software practitioners often don't understand the difference between an estimate and a goal. Here is some advice on how to be better estimators.	Tim Lister July 30, 2002
	Managing Technical People (When You're No Techie)[magazine] There's a lot more to managing software teams than understanding the technology. Do you know how to elicit requirements from users? Do you work well with management? Do you have a knack for asking the right questions at the right time? Not knowing where to put the semicolons in a line of code isn't a big deal. Knowing how to lead people–that's a big deal. Elisabeth Hendrickson explains how to bring your own unique talents and skills to the table.	Elisabeth Hendrickson July 30, 2002
	A Look at Rational's RequisitePro[magazine] Creating requirements involves tracking and documenting all of the criteria for a system's success. A requirements management tool, such as IBM Rational's RequisitePro, can support this effort. While the tool won't verify that the requirements are consistent, correct, complete, relevant, coherent, and testable, it can help manage the task more efficiently by allowing you to document, track, and maintain the requirements in an automated fashion.	Elfriede Dustin July 30, 2002
	Using Your Staff Wisely: How to Make Do with Less[magazine] In the authors' experience, sharing testing and development tasks is a viable option when the test staff can architect the tests. However, it requires the full support of everyone involved–testers, developers, and managers. All staff members must be committed to delivering a high-quality product and have a common vision of how to achieve this goal. Suzan Noden and Jennifer Mingee describe their experience sharing testing tasks with development.	Suzan Noden Jennifer Mingee July 30, 2002
	Ghost Bug Busters[magazine] The nasty bugs, some of the juiciest, aren't easy to replicate. The author calls these "ghost" bugs–things we've seen but cannot conjure up again. They leave us haunted with doubts about a system. In this Bug Report, Karen Johnson gives tips on how to replicate these apparitions.	Karen N. Johnson July 30, 2002
	Ellen Gottesdiener on Requirements Exploration and Modeling[magazine] Translating customer requests into software requires exploration, learning, and discovery. As such, this Reference Point lists resources you can use to learn more about requirements exploration and modeling. Ellen Gottesdiener—a recognized authority on software requirements—provides her top recommendations for books, journals, and online resources on the subject.	Ellen Gottesdiener July 30, 2002
	Should a Manager Know a Language?[magazine] Knowing C++ or Java can make a manager's job easier. But what about being an expert in spoken language? It's essential to be competent in the use of daily language when you are making the transition to management. Technical Editor Esther Derby gives advice on improving your language, including a warning about the dangers of using absolutes and of leaving out details in conversation.	Esther Derby July 30, 2002
	Go Configure![magazine] Configuration management problems can derail the best of software projects. Walk through the basics of how to make CM work for—not against—you.	Dwayne Phillips July 30, 2002
	Agile Meetings[magazine] Does the thought of going to yet another meeting make your head spin? Read about how to increase your team's productivity by making your meetings short, frequent, and focused.	Linda Rising July 30, 2002
	Targeted Fault Insertion[magazine] Some programs must handle network errors, file system errors, and the like. Testing their error handling manually can be tedious and time consuming. Relying on accidental errors is unreliable and uncontrollable. Learn about a method for simulating errors that makes the process automated and flexible.	Paul Houlihan July 30, 2002
	Forecasting Software Defects[magazine] The six weeks of testing you've been preparing for are suddenly reduced to one, but you still want to provide some assessment of overall quality. Read about this statistical approach to predicting the number of failed test cases in an application.	TechWell Contributor July 30, 2002
	Bug Tracking Basics[magazine] Effective bug tracking assures that bugs are logged, fixed, and verified by the appropriate personnel. Here's a beginner's guide to this process.	Mitch Allen July 30, 2002
	What a Tangled Web[magazine] Web applications provide platforms so wide open that they defy the very structure and predictability that make test automation feasible. Object names are optional, can be duplicated, and may change at a moment's notice. Page layouts can change between and within builds. This wicked combination makes test automation even more difficult, if not downright impossible. Linda Hayes explains the importance of unique, consistent object names in Web development.	Linda Hayes July 30, 2002
	Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?[magazine] Losing your job is never easy, but the way you handle the experience has a direct impact on the results that you'll be able to achieve. Being laid off can make you question your abilities, but you have to roll with the punches, and enjoy your time off while you're looking for the next opportunity.	Stefan P. Jaskiel July 30, 2002

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