Keep thinking about testing

Although it is my holiday I cannot help keep thinking about testing. Perhaps it is good to continue thinking about testing even when you don't have to work. Currently my thoughts are about the projects from the last years. Somehow during the last days of the year people over think their good, bad and ugly moments.

In this year I was able to attend several conferences like Software & Systems Quality Conference in Germany, Dusseldorf;EuroSTAR 2008 in The Netherlands, The Hague; TestNet Najaarsevent in The Netherlands, Nieuwegein. The main subject of those conferences was about the future of software testing. And that future can be challenging by using Agile approaches, Model Based Testing, more tools, Business Chain Testing, Security Testing, new test methods and much more.

During this year I also read more weblogs like those from James Bach, Paul Gerrard, Michael Bolton, Matt Heusser, Elisabeth Hendrickson and many more weblogs. I also spend time reading books related to software testing like: Testing SAP Solutions, Tmap Next, TMap Next BDTM, The Complexity of chain testing, Software testen in Nederland, SmarTest, Business Process Validation, Kwaliteit in ontwikkeling, Testen 2.0. And some are still lying there to be read.

Occasionally I spend time on the web searching for more information as well in magazines, articles as submitted videos.

Did this all make me a better tester? Do I want to be a better tester? Did it help? I like the word I learned in the workshop: Certified Scrum Master: "It depends".

And that dependency made me keep thinking about software testing although it is my holiday. Only this time not for new ideas. I made me think about this year. In the year 2008 I posted some articles on my blog to write down some of my thoughts which might help me and others to think in another perspective about software testing. Below you see a short retrospective of my year 2008.

One of the thoughts I had was using the congruence model related to open system thinking in identifying other risks and objectives in the test process. I described this model on macro, meso and micro level. Although it is not yet completely finished it led to the following postings.
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (1)
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (2)
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (3)
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (4)
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (5)
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (6)
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (7)
Open System Thinking and Software Testing (8)

As I like to play with other models to see if it can be used in the testing profession I also wrote posting like using the ServQual model: Service Quality Model (SQM) and Software Testing

Or summarizing the impact of development models in test process: Development Models and the impact on Testing.
Even the Cultural Union I used in a article: Success of improving your Test Process depends on culture. One of the recent postings was using the mining method: Rooms and pillar approach in software testing: Room and Pillar approach for software testing

I also used this weblog to express some of my ideas related to a new quality attribute called: "Ecoliability" :
The green part of development and software testing: "Ecologiability"
Introduction of the quality attribute: Ecoliability
How to deal with "Ecoliability"

or terms like Request For Knowledge (RFK):
Request For Knowledge (RFK)
The RFK process explained
RFK and knowledge processing

or Organizational Testing Board (OTB), and some other life cycles
Software testing: An organizational approach (1)
Life Cycle of a Tester
Product User Life Cycle (PULC)

And for some fun I tried to use some metaphors to explain a bit of testing in postings like:
Beware of the auto-pilot
Software testing and Astronomy
Mikado Management or Test Management
Software testing compared with making music
Testing your software like building a house
Tetris as Test Management tool
Flying in a hot air balloon
Shuffleboard

Did I like to write those postings? YES! And I will continue for the next year. Perhaps other people are willing to help me in the year 2009 by responding on my postings and discussing the items. I hope that I can continue learning and expressing my ideas to shape my thoughts. For those who read my blog occasionally I hope you enjoyed those postings. This will be my last posting this year. I wish you all the best for 2009!