August 29, 2010

A New Hobby - Kayaks


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JDUXV22/?tag=allthingsqual-20




My wife and I have been trying out some new hobbies recently.

This weekend, we rented some kayaks and got a short lesson.  We liked them so much we went and bought our own recreational kayaks and tried them out on Silver Lake in Wilmington.

She got a "girlie" color - periwinkle blue, and of course I got the more "manly" flame combination!

It was a lot of fun, not too much work getting them on and off of the roof rack.  Once on the lake, it was very relaxing - a beautiful, sunny day with just a light breeze.  I think we're going to enjoy this one.


My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

August 24, 2010

Trial Versions of Commercial Test Automation Tools



Many vendors of commercial test automation tools offer trial versions.

Here are some:

AutoCzar
http://www.testingczars.com/productdownloadpage.php

Automation Anywhere
http://www.automationanywhere.com/download/freeTrial.htm
copyrightjoestrazzere
Badboy
http://www.badboy.com.au/download/index

e-Tester
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/downloads/index.html

EggPlant
http://www.testplant.com/free-trial/

JTest
http://www.parasoft.com/jsp/trial_request.jsp?product=Jtest 

PesterCat
http://www.pestercat.com/download.html

QA Wizard Pro
http://www.seapine.com/qawizardpro_eval.php

QFS Test
http://www.qfs.de/en/qftest/download.html

QuickTest Pro
https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpdc/display/main/index.jsp

Ranorex
http://www.ranorex.com/download.html

Rational Functional Tester
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/functional/index.html

Rational Robot
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/robot/

RoutineBot
http://www.routinebot.com/download

SilkTest
http://www.microfocus.com/products/silk/silktest-product-trial.aspx

SmarteScript
http://www.smartesoft.com/downloads.php

SpiraTest
http://www.inflectra.com/SpiraTest/Demo.aspx

TestComplete
http://smartbear.com/products/qa-tools/automated-testing/sign-up/

TestPartner
http://www.microfocus.com/products/silk/testpartner/index.aspx

Tricentis Testsuite
http://www.tricentis.com/en/tosca/trial/

Visual Studio Test Edition
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/bb633757.aspx

Visual Test
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/awdtools/visualtest/support/download.html

vTask Studio
http://www.vtaskstudio.com/index.php

vTest
http://www.verisium.com/products/evaluation.html

WebTest
http://www.appperfect.com/download/index.html

WebUI Test Studio QA Edition
http://www.telerik.com/automated-testing-tools/products/webui-test-studio-qa-edition.aspx

WinTask
http://www.wintask.com/download-wintask.php


(last updated: September 27, 2011)

August 23, 2010

Browser Compatibility Testing


Bachelor number two: which Disney character best describes you - Mickey Mouse, The Beast, Goofy, or Winnie the Pooh?




My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

August 18, 2010

Not A Bug


Mr. Feature attempts to set the record straight.


My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

August 17, 2010

We are Acquired

We just found out that our company has been acquired.



It's not a surprise; we pretty much knew that this was the strategy, that sooner or later we'd need to be part of a much bigger company.  That time is now.

Having worked at many smaller companies, as well as several startups, I've been through the acquisition routine before.  Sometimes it works out really well, sometimes not so much.

The folks from the acquiring company were here, talking about their organization.  They all seem nice enough, and there are certainly many more opportunities in the larger company for all of us to grow and prosper.

Right now we are in the uncertain, slightly uneasy stage.  I'm sure there will be some change eventually, but for now, everything is staying as is.  Still, we keep thinking:
  • How will our roles change?
  • Will they leave our organizational structure in place?
  • Will we stay in our current building?
  • Will we like working for a much larger company?
  • Will they like us?
In some respects, it's like interviewing for a new job.  Except that you have already been hired and you're just not exactly sure what your job is, who your boss is, and where you have to go to work every day.

I'll be working hard over the upcoming days and weeks to make our transition easier on the team in whatever way I can.  Meanwhile, we will try to keep our current projects on track.

This will be interesting.


My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

August 13, 2010

We Juggle






Lately it seems as if my QA Team is doing quite a lot of juggling.


We juggle...

When we have more work than time

When we have staffed for three simultaneous projects, but we are currently testing eight

When new requirements pop up at the last minute

When planned releases to QA slip, but the ship date doesn't

When a developer casually mentions that he decided to refactor one of the core components

When it is decided that we should "fast track" an unscheduled change


We can't staff for the worst case, and have people on the bench.  So if we are temporarily understaffed, we have to continually decide "Who gets to be unhappy this time?".

It gets complicated, since testers are not fungible.

  • Just because Suzy has an hour of free time on Tuesday, doesn't mean that she can jump in and contribute an hour's worth of testing on Project X (which she has never before even seen).  
  • Just because new hire Brian comes free for 1 day sometime next month doesn't mean he can contribute a day's worth of testing on Advanced Project Z.  
  • Just because Ted is expected to be out for a few days with back problems, doesn't mean that Jake can drop what he's doing and fill in - Jake has other commitments.

The worst part about it - when you juggle, sometimes things get dropped!

When things get crazy and we can't get additional help, we:
  • Try to re-order tasks so that we are not a bottleneck
  • Try to remove obstacles and distractions early
  • Allow people to work from home if they can be more productive
  • Run interference for the busy testers
  • Deflect requests until later, when possible

And we juggle!




My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

August 11, 2010

Another Reason Why I Like Bugzilla

After an errant search turned up more bug reports than expected, I encountered this message:



I mentioned before the Zarro Boogs Found message you'll get if a search returns no bugs.  This is another interesting message, and another reason to like Bugzilla.

Know of any other Bugzilla humor?


My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

August 8, 2010

I'm Voting For SQAForums

The Automated Testing Institute is running their 2nd Annual "ATI Automation Honors" competition.


From the ATI website:
The industry's original set of awards dedicated to software test automation is again looking to crown industry leading tools, resources and practitioners with automation's top honor. That means it's time for all of you to get busy! The ATI Automation Honors awards rely on industry practitioners to identify which tools, resources and people are the best, which have the most significant upgrades and/or which are setting the trends that will help to take software test automation to the next level in the coming year. 
Last year SQAForums.com won the best software testing website award.  This year they are nominated in the "Best Automated Testing Forum" category.

I don't think there's much doubt that SQAForums is the best for supporting virtually every test automation tool that exists.  With their individual tool-specific forums, as well as their general automation forums, everyone can find a handy home for helpful hints, tips, in-depth product reviews, and the kind of product support you can't even get from the vendors' sites.

That's why I'm voting for SQAForums.  Won't you join me?



My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.