Do testers have to code... to be useful?

Do  Testers  Have  to  Code…

Quality  in  Agile  Conference  Vancouver,  Canada  April  2015  

 Lisa  Crispin                                      Janet  Gregory  @lisacrispin                              @janetgregoryca  

to  be  useful?

A  li7le  about  us

Janet  First  agile  team:    2000  

Currently  coaching,    training  TwiGer:    janetgregoryca  

Email:  [email protected]  

Agile  TesJng;  2009  More  Agile  TesJng:  Oct  2014  

Website:    www.agiletester.com    www.agiletester.ca  

Lisa      First  agile  team  –  2000  

Currently  tester  on  Pivotal  Tracker  team  TwiGer:    lisacrispin  

Email:  [email protected]  

We’ve  heard  it  since  the  dawn  of  “agile”…  

Everyone on the team should be able to do everything, including writing production

code

We need to automate everything!

Let’s hire some SDETs!

But shouldn’t we be trying to build quality in?

Reality  Check…

•  Many  (if  not  most)  job  ads  ask  for  programming  skills  

•  Managers  think  test  automaJon  is  a  silver  bullet  

•  Technical  skills  help  testers  communicate  with  devs,  ops,  others  

Our  take

•  TesJng  skills  such  as  exploratory  tesJng  are  a  must  •  Competencies  trump  roles  •  The  whole  team  must  take  responsibility  for  quality  •  TesJng  starts  at  the  beginning  •  Know  what  you  need  to  add  value  •  There  is  no  room  for  zombie  testers!  

It’s  a  Mindset  Switch

Instead  of    • We’re  here  to  find  bugs  …  or  ensure  requirements  are  met  …  or  break  the  sobware  …  

7  

Think  – How  do  we  “bake  quality  in”?  

–  ..and  how  can  we  help  deliver  sobware  successfully?  

Testers  need    Technical  Awareness  !!    

Agile  teams  already  have  coders,  but…  

Feature  (with  

examples)   User  Story  

High-­‐Level  AT  

Fix  Defects  

Code,  test  &  automate  story  

ATDD Acceptance  Test  Driven  Development

Accept  Story   Explore  

Examples  

This  means  learning…

•  TesJng  framework  your  team  selects  •  and  the  DSL  (domain  specific  language)  

•  Common  language  with  programmers  •  Common  language  with  customers  •  Code  to  read  &  understand    •  Code  to  write?  –  can’t  hurt,  but  not  

absolutely  required  

Frameworks  /  languages  /  terminology

Example  of  BDD  format  Given  the  user  has  no  exisJng  account  

When  she  requests  to  create  a  new  account  

And  she  enters  a  valid  user  name  and  valid  password                                    (rules  defined)    

Then  the  informaJon  is  saved  upon  submilng.  

Understand  Programming  Concepts

Common  vocabulary  

IDEs    (integrated  development  environment)

If you use same tools as

teammates… …they can more easily help you

Maintain your own •  Linux/Unix •  Windows •  Mac •  Deploys

Maintain  Test  Environments

Examples:    Share  Stories

Workflows,  Journeys  

Know  Your  Domain

Thinking  Skills

CollaboraRng,  CommunicaRng

•  Ubiquitous  language  •  Examples  

•  QuesJon    

Delivering  InformaRon

•  Oben  bad  news!  •  CollaboraJve  approach  –  “Show  me”  

1.  Form  groups  of  three  

2.  Who  has  the  most  unusual  hobby?    

3.  Explain  it  to  the  other  two  in  one  minute.    

SJcker  by  Brian  Marick  

Testers  add  unique  value

•  Delivery  teams  already  have  coders  

•  But  may  not  have  tesJng  skills  such  as:  •  Exploratory  tesJng  •  SpecialJes  such  as  security,  performance,  UX  

tesJng  •  EliciJng  examples  from  customers,  turning  into  

tests  that  guide  coding  

MulJ-­‐  discipline  skills  

Expert    Discipline  skills  

T-­‐Shaped  Skills

Breadth of Skills

Dep

th o

f Ski

lls

Square-­‐shaped  Team

See  links  for  more  by  Rob  Lambert  and  Adam  P.  Knight  

Cube-­‐shaped  Skills!

Idea  from  Marcelo  Leite  

Where  to  get  the  skills?

Experiment!  •  Study  group,  book  club  •  Community  of  PracJce  •  Online  resources  •  What  fits  your  learning  

style?  •  Find  the  wonder!  

What  skill  do  you  need?

•  Get  back  with  your  group  of  three  

•  IdenJfy  one  skill  that  would  help  you  collaborate  with  team  members  to  build  quality  in  

•  Think  of  an  experiment  that  could  help  you  learn  the  skill  

So,  do  we  need  to  be  coders?

•  Dev  teams  already  have  coders!  

•  Technical  awareness  is  a  must  •  Thinking  skills  enable  our  contribuJons  

•  Specialized  tesJng  skills  add  huge  value  

There’s  not  one  right  way      

Find  ways  that  you  can  add  value  to  your  team  

   And  then  ….  keep  learning    

More  Learning •  Adzic,  Gojko,  Specifica5on  by  Example:  How  Successful  Teams  Deliver  the  Right  SoAware,  Manning,  2011  •  Adzic,  Gojko,  Impact  Mapping:  Making  a  Big  Impact  with  SoAware  Products  and  Projects,  2012a  hGp://impactmapping.org  

•  Gärtner,  Markus,  ATDD  By  Example:  A  Prac5cal  Guide  to  Acceptance  Test-­‐Driven  Development,  Addison-­‐Wesley,  2012a  •  Karten,  Naomi,  "Are  You  Listening?",  hGp://www.agileconnecJon.com/arJcle/are-­‐you-­‐listening,  Agile  ConnecJon,  2009  •  Keogh,  Liz,  hGp://lunivore.com  -­‐  look  for  her  posts  on  BDD,  Real  OpJons  •  Knight,  Adam  P.,  "T-­‐shaped  Tester,  Square  Shaped  Team",  hGp://thesocialtester.co.uk/t-­‐shaped-­‐tester-­‐square-­‐shaped-­‐team/,  2013  •  Lambert,  Rob,  "T-­‐shaped  Testers  and  Their  Role  In  a  Team",  hGp://thesocialtester.co.uk/t-­‐shaped-­‐testers-­‐and-­‐their-­‐role-­‐in-­‐a-­‐team/  ,  2012  •  Levison,  Mark,  "The  Beginner's  Mind  -­‐  An  Approach  to  Listening",  hGp://www.infoq.com/news/2008/08/beginners_mind,  InfoQ,  2008  •  McMillan,  Darren,  "Mind  Mapping  101",  for  TesJng:  hGp://www.beGertesJng.co.uk/content/?p=956,  2011  •  PaGon,  Jeff,  User  Story  Mapping,  2014  •  Wynne,  MaG  and  Aslak  Hellesoy,  The  Cucumber  Book:  Behavior-­‐Driven  Development  for  Testers  and  Developers,  PragmaJc  Programmers,  2012  

Agile  Tes5ng:  A  Prac5cal  Guide  for  Testers  and  Agile  Teams  

More  Agile  Tes5ng:  Learning  Journeys  for  the  Whole  Team  

By  Janet  Gregory  and  Lisa  Crispin    www.agiletester.ca  www.agiletester.com  

Contact  info  www.janetgregory.ca  Email:  [email protected]  TwiGer:  janetgregoryca  

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lisacrispin.com  Email:  [email protected]  TwiGer:  lisacrispin