Apr 2, 2020
Back to Index of all monthly summaries
The pdfs collating the content below are on this post for Patreons.
- https://www.patreon.com/posts/35553226
Highlights
Looking back through the list of 'stuff', I can see a few highlights.
I released a new course on Linkedin Learning that covers Effective Synchronisation in WebDriver. I crammed a lot of information into this and the example source code. I created a short overview of the course here. The course is available as part of a LinkedIn Learning subscription, or you can buy it as an individual course.
The course uses a custom app that I wrote called The Synchole, which you can use to practise your testing.
Some of the functionality for that made its way into my Test Pages.
All the conferences I was getting ready for got cancelled - that isn't a highlight, but it does mean that some of the prep work made its way into The Pulper test application so it now has an API and a bunch of new versions to test.
I released a new podcast episode, and migrated my podcast hosting to a new host. Hopefully the feeds have all migrated to the podcast syndication sites. I've moved to podcast.co, nothing wrong with podbean just that podcast.co were running a good pricing deal so I jumped ship.
I uploaded a new video on the distinction between Observation and Interrogation. This distinction has made a big difference to how I approach testing so I hope this is useful.
- Observation vs Interrogation video and blog post
Viv Richard's has released a free ebook which will eventually have 80 essays in it from testers around the world. You can pay for the book and Viv will donate the proceeds to charity. I contributed an essay to the book.
Twitter Summary for March 2020
This summary is pulled from reports generated by Chatterscan.com
I was asked a question about how to learn JavaScript so I answered and then started tweeting my answers to social media.
- If you are a tester and want to learn JavaScript (Tip 1)... My Test Automation U Course -
- If you are a tester and want to learn JavaScript (Tip 5)... Read (free) DOM Elightenment- https://t.co/nWHrwG5Tws -
Useful curation posts:
- @testingcurator: Check out "#Testing Bits - March 22nd - March 28th, 2020" (41 posts) -
- @testingcurator: Check out "#Testing Bits - March 8th - March 15th, 2020 (29 posts) -
Articles I found interesting:
- Being able to explain your decisions doesn't just help justify them, it also helps you flex when you need to change your mind because you know what your assumptions were and helps you step back and review your decisions objectively. as @tjmaher1 describes-
- @AutomatedTester: How Selenium Works: Episode 5 - Clicking -
- @aussielunix: Reminder: The 12 days of Demming is available for free !! https://t.co/629bt5HUmm -
- Interesting summary of changes in Specification By Example usage over time -
- RT @videopuppet: Use Markdown files to script videos! -
- Abstractions are important for general coding and automating. https://t.co/h7Ux59L7p2
- Ever wanted to learn about JavaScript? Or Compilers? The code for this is super explanatory.
Free resources and books online:
- You can read the 1969 NATO transcripts online at Brian Randell's (Transcript Editor) site -
- An interesting paper on the history of Javascript -
- @awbjs: The ACM Digital Library as taken down its paywall through June 30. If you are interest in the history of programming languages
- RT @ali_hill91: Excited to be part of @11vlr’s ‘Around the World with 80 Software Testers’ project. It’s free to download
- RT @shehackspurple: I just released a new version of "Getting Started with AppSec", free resources for those wanting to start a career in security
I released a new course on LinkedIn Learning and updated some of my other courses and tools:
- My new course on LinkedIn learning concentrates on Synchronization and Waiting strategies for use with WebDriver https://t.co/hliGPJthda -
- I used the approach Chris describes in v10 and v11 of The Pulper - why v11? perhaps there are bugs related to API usage to find in v10? -
- I have just added a new talk recording and transcript to my Evil Tester Talks bundle "A Guide to Testing Web Applications" -
- One of the things I like about the snippets extension is how it shows you the code it runs - useful for learning javascript
Blog Posts For March 2020
- February 2020 EvilTester.com and Patreon Content SummaryContent created and collated for EvilTester.com, Patreon and Social for February 2020
- What does it take to find bugs?A short set of notes inspired by quotes from Ackoff, Ashby, Dijkstra and Weinberg on what it takes to find bugs.
- Learn to Synchronise WebDriver And Avoid Flaky Test AutomationSynchronisation on application state is one of the most important skills for effective and reliable web automation.
- Observation vs InterrogationI have found value in the distinction between Observation and Interrogation in my testing and this hands on example explains why.
- Episode 011 - Programmer or Tester? - The Evil Tester ShowIn this podcast we answer the question What Should I Be? Programmer or Tester?
Patreon Posts For March 2020
- Test Deliberately, don't Trust BlindlyFamiliarity can Breed Overconfidence. Testing can provide a buffer zone within which we check our work.
- Observation, Logging, Experimentation and LearningLessons on Observation, logging, experimentation, tooling and skill sets from Hector 87
- Inheritance and AutomatingI tend to avoid inheritance when I automate.
- Some notes on Ackoff's Fundamentals of Operations ResearchA book which, for me, opened up the direct relevancy of Operations Research to Software Testing and Development.
- Decision Making and PlanningHow do we make a 'search for solution' process more effective?
- Podcast Episode - What Should I Be?Podcast Episode - What Should I Be? a Programmer or a Tester or a Test Automator or an SDET or...
- Working from codeIf I can model my work in the standard Development Toolset then it is very easy to involve other people in the testing work.
- Newsletter contentA Summary of my newsletter content.
- Increments, Test Apps and CoursesHow i created my initial course promotion and behind the scenes coding work to support the courses.
- Notes on Computer Programming Fundamentals chp 11Quotes from and Notes on 'Computer Programming Fundamentals' by Leeds and Weinberg, chapter 11 Program Testing
- Notes on 'How to Solve It: Modern Heuristics'The 'solution' is only a solution in terms of the model.
- Observation and Interrogation Explained Video with TranscriptThis video will be released to youtube with a blog summary. It was released early to Patreon adfree and with a transcript.
- Recommended Reading - NATO Science Committee reports 1968 and 1969The NATO Science Committee reports from 1968 and 1969 Software Engineering Conferences are worth reading.
- Testing a Memory Leak BugI had to fix a pernicious memory leak error in The Pulper. And I used WebDriver as my stress testing tool to create 2000 sessions.
- Multiple Builds for AutomatingNotes on Travis Cron Jobs and use of different build processes when automating.
- The Pulper automation codeAutomation code for The Pulper project.
- Academic pursuit vs implementationActing too theoretically, or too strategically can expose us to the risk of not having demonstrated solid ground to build on.
- Tactical vs Rubbish vs Poor vs Sub-optimalTactical is not a 'Get out of jail free' word, to justify a long term sub-optimal approach.
- A workshop MVPThe MVP stage of a tutorial is a great relief. 'I could do this tomorrow', but I don't have to, so can now incrementally improve it.
- Weird Cross Browser Automation IssueDemonstration of an odd cross browser automation issue.
- Another App live and some thoughts on CSS as a risk oracleI've made a new test app public for a course I'm working on and describe some related thoughts on CSS and Testing.
- Multiple representations for planning and documentationUsing a model to make the Planning process a Doing process.
- Monthly Summaries and NewsletterA summary of recent newsletter content and expansion of risk to issue exercise and tactical to strategic development concept.
- Content Summary for February 2020Content summary links for February 2020
- Project Structure to Support Organic WorkProject Structure to Support Organic Work
- February 2020 Collated PDFsPDFs for the February 2020 content collation should be attached to this post