GTAC 2010: Turning Quality on its Head

Google Test Automation Conference 2010
October 28-29, 2010
Turning Quality on its Head
Presented by James Whittaker, Engineering Director, Google Inc.
Abstract:
This talk weighs the tradeoff between early cycle unit and component testing with late cycle integration and system testing and argues where the largest quality gains can be made by further investment in one, the other, or both. A very counter intuitive conclusion is reached and a model for testing that follows this conclusion is proposed.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Whittaker is currently the Engineering Director over engineering tools and testing for Google's Seattle and Kirkland offices. He holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Tennessee and is the author or coauthor of four acclaimed textbooks. How to Break Software, How to Break Software Security (with Hugh Thompson) and How to Break Web Software (with Mike Andrews). His latest is Exploratory Software Testing: Tips, Tricks, Tours and Techniques to Guide Test Design and he's authored over fifty peer-reviewed papers on software development and computer security. He holds patents on various inventions in software testing and defensive security applications and has attracted millions in funding, sponsorship, and license agreements while a professor at Florida Tech. He has also served as a testing and security consultant for dozens of companies and spent 3 years as an architect at Microsoft.
Talk Slides: docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4fT...

[@andrewyo3374]

Wanted to say hi to James of the 2010 from 2022 :) You've just completed the puzzle in my head! Thank you, so much!!!

[@snowpunk116]

James is my Hero.

[@StalkedByLosers]

Hi Gopal.
I'm a Test Engineer (electro-mechanical) and I can respect your comment. I have made the same comment several times. The reason is because our product is intangible. In my experience though...I have found a glimpse light to remedy this. Focus on the value of your deliverable to the customer experience and report that. This will in turn give your work value. When you find a bug or a failure, report that like you do, but add to it what it means to the customer/user. Good luck!

[@rl-fg2nf]

00:03:50 all software has bugs, coding is complicated
00:04:40 cannot improve code by writing more code (for automated tests)
00:05:30 invest in Dev's early cycle testing? or invest in Test's late cycle testing?
- 00:07:30 Dev fixes problems, Test only finds problems
- 00:08:35 Dev fixes bugs early, Test finds bugs late
- 00:10:15 Dev creates code, Test creates throw-away artifacts
00:12:25 still, high demand for manual testing!
- 00:14:40 Dev looks at trees, Test sees the forrest
- 00:17:25 Test looks at the system from a user perspective
- 00:18:40 Test finds unique bugs by manually testing the complete product
00:29:00 how can Test become more productive?
- 00:29:50 simplify artifacts, make documentation a by-product of testing
- 00:30:35 internal testers → crowdtesters → dogfooders → beta testers, with one infrastructure to measure them all (RMI = risk mitigation index?)
- 00:32:30 ACC (attributes, components, capabilities) aka Testify aka Google Test Analytics
- 00:43:10 head(s)-up display for testers
01:01:30 questions & answers

[@cfoleyTwenty4]

The 10:50 mark...that is awesome commentary about Test Plans!!!

[@MatthewMiddletonTV]

Interesting ideas - I hope that Google Test Analytics gets released to the public someday!

[@icilianfenner]

@mrichman thanks for the heads up ;)

[@zhe_li]

yeah, I personally am a victim of the bug mentioned at 20:48. I was on a trip in Spain and I walked four hours but then just found that place is on next street.

[@photogeekco]

link to the slides 404

[@visweshwarpvn]

Test engineering (esp..manual testers) do not get due respect, even though they do so much of quality work for the product to succeed,. Hope things will change in future..

[@twistedbydsign99]

@mrichman academics lol

[@ImperialDoor]

Lol who thought this was Grand Theft Auto!?!?!