Aging Gracefully in QAEmployee churn is inevitable in every industry, and positions are being filled by fresh young faces all the time. Instead of becoming worried or insecure, senior team members should embrace their new status as someone to be looked up to for experience, lessons, and mentoring abilities. Here's how to do that in QA.
To Be a Better Tester, Ask the Right QuestionsCritical thinking is a core trait a software tester needs to succeed, and asking questions is a great skill to help. Questioning brings out the required information, breaks assumptions, and enables everyone on the team to give their perspectives. But there's an art to asking the right question at the right time.
Testing Is Insurance, Not AssuranceThe Iowa Democratic Party used a mobile app to pull results from statewide precincts for the Iowa caucus. But the app was not properly tested or deployed, and it turned into a high-profile tech disaster. When deadlines loom, release testing is often what gets cut, but this situation shows why it's a crucial activity.
Softer Testing Skills to Focus On in 2020Although technical skills will always be essential for testers, this should be the year we also have a collective responsibility to focus on two softer aspects: being realistic about goals for quality, and bringing back simplicity into the software engineering discipline. Here's how these goals can bring value in 2020.
Top 10 TechWell Insights Stories of 2019Career development was on many software practitioners' minds in 2019, as some of our top stories were about having a technical lead on a Scrum team and making the switch from quality assurance to quality engineering. Stories about new ideas such as DevOps and continuous testing also ranked high. Check out the roundup.
A Software Testing PrimerWhen development teams are pressed for time or budget, testing is often the first activity squeezed out. But testing will actually save you money in the long run. This story gives the basics of why it's crucial to test early and often, the types of testing you should perform, and how to get proactive against bugs.
Testers Must Use Team Connections to Enable QualityThe quality team has the greatest reach in its visibility and ability to connect with all other engineering and non-engineering teams. For a tester to realize their fullest potential, they need to acknowledge and leverage this reach by communicating and collaborating with all other teams to create the best product.
Security Testing and Assessing Risk: A Slack Takeover with Shachar SchiffThought leaders from the software community are taking over the TechWell Hub to answer questions and engage in conversations. Shachar Schiff, founder and principal consultant at BadTesting, hosted this Slack takeover and discussed assessing code coverage like a risk analyst, risk assessments outside security, and more.
