President's blog
QA Link of the week 2007-11-02
Submitted by President on Fri, 2007-11-02 14:30.This week's link is the Software Testing Guide blog.
Having a common vocabulary is very important when discussing quality and testing with other groups. Many misunderstandings and mistakes can be prevented just by having a shared common understanding of basic quality terminology. If you do not yet have a dictionary/vocabulary/glossary published, a great starting point is the Software Testing Guide blog. You may not agree with all the definitions posted, but it can help you to ensure your own QA vocabulary has sufficient coverage. It also provides a great starting point for discussion with other groups when you are working to create a common shared quality vocabulary. There are also other QA dictionaries available on the web. Begin your search on any of the formal QA organization pages or google it.
The Software Testing Guide blog is just another of the QA related links we have on our del.icio.us web page. We currently have over 170 Software related QA links for you to explore. Click on the References-Links-Forums link in the navigation frame to see them all!!!
QA Link of the week 2007-10-26
Submitted by President on Fri, 2007-10-26 14:42.This week's link is The Braidy Tester blog.
The Braidy Tester blog is another one of the sites I have in my RSS reader. Michael Hunter is a test lead for Microsoft working on the Expression project. I first ran across his blog when I discovered his award winning paper from STAR East "Hallmarks of a Great Tester ". It is a great paper and a must read! Michael also has his own website, The Braidy Tester , that has many link to his papers, his automation stack (another must read!) and more. Add his blog to your RSS reader, read his papers!
The Braidy Tester blog is just another of the QA related links we have on our del.icio.us web page. We currently have over 170 Software related QA links for you to explore. Click on the References-Links-Forums link in the navigation frame to see them all!!!
QA Link of the week 2007-10-19
Submitted by President on Fri, 2007-10-19 14:23.This week's links are James Bach's - Satisfice, Inc. and his blog James Bach's Blog .
James Bach is a contrarian to the normal "Automate Everything!" and "Get Certified!" approaches you commonly encounter in software quality assurance. He is the author of the books "Lessons Learned in Software Testing: A Context Driven Approach" and "Amplifying Your Effectiveness". He emphasizes software testing as a learning and thinking process and highly values the skill of manual software testing. He prefers a style of rapid testing that is tester-centric (as opposed to technique-centric) and is a blend of heuristic testing, risk-based testing, and exploratory testing. He is also openly critical of the "certification zombies", instead emphasizing quality as being part of a thinking evaluation process. It's an interesting point of view.
QA Link of the week 2007-10-11
Submitted by President on Thu, 2007-10-11 14:43.Well, I'm back from my break and it's time to catch up on our QA links. This week's links are Cem Kaner's website and the Center for Software Testing Education & Research .
Cem Kaner is one of the great software QA authors. He is the author of the books "Testing Computer Software" and "Lessons Learned in Software Testing". I usually end up recommending or purchasing his books for my team members. His Publications page has many presentations available for download that can help with software QA and QC training. His blog Cem Kaner's Blog is a great resource for anyone interested in software testing and the legal issues involved in software quality.
The 10 Commandments For Project Success presentation now available for download!
Submitted by President on Thu, 2007-10-11 14:18.Inez Marino has graciously agreed to make her presentation The 10 Commandments for Project Success, Correcting Faulty Assumptions available for download by our members for their personal use. It is available on the Speakers and Presentations page at the bottom of the October 2007 meeting description. Or you can just click here to download a copy now. Be aware that this presentation requires MS PowerPoint for viewing. It contains both the presentation slides and audio and is approximately 80 megabytes in size. Thanks Inez, we really appreciate your generosity!!!
QA Link of the week 2007-09-21
Submitted by President on Fri, 2007-09-21 13:43.This week's links are Brian Marick's Testing Foundations and his blog Exploration Through Example .
Brian Marick is another automated software testing author I like to read. He is the author of the books "The Craft of Software Testing" and "Everyday Scripting with Ruby". He is one of the leaders in Agile Testing and Agile test methods. His articles link, Brian Marick - Writings, has many interesting papers from Agile testing, code coverage, and more. His blog Exploration Through Example is a great resource for anyone interested in agile testing or software testing in general. Many of the testing weblogs shown on his blog are among my favorite subscribed RSS feeds.
QA Link of the week 2007-09-15
Submitted by President on Fri, 2007-09-14 13:28.This week's link is the Brett Pettichord's Software Testing Hotlist .
Brett Pettichord is an automated software testing guru who is also a member of the QA rat pack that works with Cem Kaner, James Bach, etc. He is one of the authors of the book "Lessons Learned in Software Testing". His Software Testing Hotlist is a set of links covering topics from test automation, test tools, risk based testing, working with developers and more. His site is one of the few that focuses on Silk test. His publications link, Presentations and Papers, has many interesting papers from Agile testing, testing tools, and more. I especially liked the "Schools of Software Testing" presentation. His site is a great resource for anyone interested in automated software testing or software testing in general.
QA Link of the week 2007-09-06
Submitted by President on Thu, 2007-09-06 12:50.This week's link is the GTAC 2007: 2nd Annual Google Test Automation Conference presentations on YouTube .
YouTube is another great way to expand your view of the world or learn new ideas. You can find many QA related presentations from James Bach to the guys at Google. This week's link, the GTAC 2007: 2nd Annual Google Test Automation Conference, has video presentations covering interaction based testing, test automation frameworks, specification based testing, managing thousands of tests, making automated testing less frightening, and much much more. You can watch it on your iPhone at lunch, wait - no, this is QA. Try to sneak it in on your old PC at home - after another long day at work - while your significant other is busy. If you actually have extra time, add the Google Testing Blog to your RSS feed list or bookmarks/favorites. The Google Test motto, "If it aint broke, you aren't trying hard enough", is a great standard to strive toward in all testing. I'll cover it more in a future link of the week.
QA Link of the week 2007-08-29
Submitted by President on Wed, 2007-08-29 12:49.This week's link is the free QA Podcast on Testing Reflections .
Podcasts are mp3 audio files you can download and listen to on your computer, iPod or mp3 player. There are podcasts on nearly every subject, from radio talkshows to conference presentations, with everything in between. Some people listen to them in the car on their comute to work or while they exercise. It's a great way to expand your view of the world or learn new ideas.
There are just a few podcasts that cover software quality or software development. Testing Reflections has links to many of the blogs and podcasts covering QA topics. This week's link, QA Podcast - Conversations About Software Quality Assurance is an audio podcast on software quality and testing. The topics range from performance testing, industry testing practices, to risk management and more. There are also discussions with James Bach (Exploratory Testing), Chromatic (Perl unit testing), Kent Beck (Extreme Programming), and many other leaders in software development. Listen and learn!!!
QA Link of the week 2007-08-22
Submitted by President on Wed, 2007-08-22 16:51.This week's link is the Software QA and Testing Resource Center.
Another week, another QA reference site. This is another QA reference site that has excellent links to some of my favorite QA web pages. It is one of the few sites where you can find the complete Software QA and Testing Frequently-Asked-Questions available online. My favorite page is the Software QA and Testing Bookstore . I agree with all of the book picks and have many of them in my personal library. The Software QA and Testing Resource Center also has great coverage of the many software test tools available. Jobs, FAQs, Books, Tools, this site has it all!
Software QA and Testing Resource Center is just another of the QA related links we have on our del.icio.us web page. We currently have over 170 Software related QA links for you to explore. Click on the References-Links-Forums link in the navigation frame to see them all!!!
QA Link of the week 2007-08-15
Submitted by President on Wed, 2007-08-15 14:06.This weeks mega-links are SQAforums.com , SQAsearch.com , and QAdownloads.com.
This is another of the QA related sites that not everyone is aware of. It uses multiple URLs, but I consider it to be a single mega-site. All of the URLs are easily accessible from one another. Pick the one that you find easiest to remember and you can easily get to the rest.
The SQAforums.com link will take you to the forums where you can post and read questions and answers on topics ranging from Software Testing (Functional, Automated, Web, etc.), Quality Engineering (Methodologies, Process Improvement, Estimation, etc.), Testing Tools (WinRunner, Silktest, Bugzilla, etc.) and more. The SQAsearch.com link is a searchable list of QA links that is quite comprehensive ranging from Blogs, Tutorials, Tools, and everything in between. The QAdownloads.com link has tools, templates, and white papers for you to download and use.
SQAforums.com is just one of the QA related links we have on our del.icio.us web page. We currently have over 170 Software related QA links for you to explore. Click on the References-Links-Forums link in the navigation frame to see them all!!!
QA Link of the week 2007-08-08
Submitted by President on Wed, 2007-08-08 13:02.This week's link is StickyMinds.com.
Yes, this is a site that I am sure is familar to many of you. Yet I am constantly surprised by how many QA/QC professionals that I meet that have not visited StickyMinds. I find that I am visiting several times a month. It has articles from industry experts, technical papers, industry news, a searchable tools and books guide, round tables, and discussion forums. There seems to be something new there every week.
StickyMinds.com is the online companion to what used to be called Software Testing and Quality Engineering (STQE = Sticky, get it?) magazine. It is now called Better Software magazine and it is still a must read for anyone involved in software QA/QC. I strongly suggest subscribing just for the new ideas you will get every month. Or subscribe to show your support for StickyMinds.com. Either way it is a no brainer. So visit StickyMinds.com and while you are there sign up for BetterSoftware Magazine too.
Quality Certifications Presentation now available for download!
Submitted by President on Thu, 2007-08-02 14:33.Kidra Shadroo has graciously agreed to make his presentation Effective Methods to Achieve Quality Certification available for download by our members for their personal use. It is available on the Speakers and Presentations page at the bottom of the August 2007 meeting description. Or you can just click here to download a copy now. Thanks Kidra!!!
QA Link of the week 2007-08-01
Submitted by President on Wed, 2007-08-01 05:39.Of course it's the SCQAA-LA chapter site!
SCQAA Los Angeles http://scqaa.org is the Los Angeles Chapter of the Southern California Quality Assurance Association. It was formed to cater to the needs of the greater LA County members of SCQAA and their companies. This is a chapter dedicated to the members of SCQAA who reside closer to Los Angeles within the LA county. Be sure to check out their Documents and Templates link. Lots of helpful information from code review checklists to a quality management plan template and more!
We have over 170 Software related QA links for you to explore. Click on the References-Links-Forums link in the navigation frame to see them all!!!
