Software Testing is a fascinating, often overlooked discipline.
Why is testing fascinating? Because life is a test and we’ll never know for sure if we’re right or wrong.
We navigate complexity. We seek to make sense of what we perceive. Software testing is analogous to our everyday quest for meaning.
To test software is to examine complexity. The tester’s intent is to find issues and bugs before they bite. Testers break things now so they’ll be stronger in the future.
Here are some observations on software testing.
- Testers can never test something 100%. There are no guarantees.
- Good testers ask questions like, “What does quality mean?” and “What is good enough?”
- Strong testers focus on risk. They create and execute evolving test strategies to cover as many risks as possible within logistical constraints like time, people and budget.
- It’s easy to get confused or frustrated while testing. The tester can sharpen her skills by studying meta-cognition, causality and general systems theory.
- Software testing is multi-disciplinary, marrying psychology, mathematics, self-discipline and software development (to name just a few). Testing is a good fit for thinkers who seek many schools of thought.
- Communication skills are vital to testing. What good is it to find bugs and issues if you can’t report that information in a meaningful way? Testers ask questions like “What does success mean to you?” and get conflicting answers from everybody.
- Testers should think critically and laterally. Their job is to see what hasn’t been seen yet, to find new angles and connections, like a detective.
Software testing bridges the gap between technology and people, that sweet spot where bytes shake hands with humanity.
The skills we learn as testers are applicable to everything.
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