Test together, and test across all browsers

I’ve never seen application testing as being just about the technical side – important though us coders are for making things happen. The way I see it, when a new application makes it out into the real world, it’s going to be used by folk who aren’t technical but just want their stuff to work. So why not get everyone who can make that happen – including your business analysts –involved from the start?

What we really need to make that work is fully automated testing that really is easy to use, and flexible enough so that business analysts, software testers and developers can all work together. That way, you end up with great applications, for everyone.

This thinking has been the inspiration for the latest release of Silk Test which I’ve take a little trial of recently. It’s version 13.5 and so up to date it’s the first automated testing solution to work with Windows 8 and the latest browsers like Chrome, IE 10 and Firefox. I played around with a single script that happily tested all those browsers, making it really quick and easy to check the quality of what you’re creating.

If you’re a SAP eCATT or Visual Studio 2012 user, it worth checking out too, since it fully integrates with those environments. Smooth testing for everyone? It’s the kind of thing that makes me happy to be back…

Try before you buy – a great way to develop

We all know it’s impossible to develop quality software without understanding the user requirements for the finished product. But when it comes to tracking and sharing these desired features with the development team? Well that can become a really tedious, and often disorganized, process.

So for me, and as it happens, the Caliber team at Borland, the way forward is to combine visual and text based requirements management in one easy-to-use solution.

Visualization helps to accelerate the elicitation process, identify gaps and ensures a more complete set of requirements from inception to release. Even better, visualization means your new systems can be mocked up and go through user acceptance before development begins – so it’s kinda like ‘try before you buy’ as an analogy.

This has got to be a way to save development time and money; and most importantly from my point of view, ensure that the customer gets what they want. The guys at Borland have worked hard on release 11 of Caliber, so it’s well worth a look.

Affordable mobile testing – and it’s on the mobile itself

I’ve been talking a lot about delivering lightweight, easy to use, affordable software. Now that I’m back, instead of just talking lightweight, here’s a new Borland solution that demonstrates exactly what I mean – Silk Mobile.

There are plenty of mobile testing tools out there that charge far more for a single seat of their tool than a single seat of Silk Mobile. And I can honestly say for Real Device Testing, Silk Mobile does more – quick and easily – than any lookalike.

As a tester you simply hook up your mobile device via USB or WiFi to your computer, create tests in minutes and export them to C#, Java, Python or Perl. Since we truly believe in open software at Borland, you could even export tests to IBM-Rational’s Functional Tester (RFT) or SmartBear’s TestComplete (if that’s what floats your boat), but naturally it integrates with Silk Central Test Manager.

There’s a real explosion in the number of mobile devices and platforms out there today. So for everyone who needs the widest platform support including Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and HTML5, Silk Mobile delivers. With its no coding, visual approach, this is way to get mobile apps tested and released sooner – and that’s the kind of software I really appreciate. There’s more about Silk Mobile here.

 

Comebacks and their importance:

I’m not about to fill the boots of Muhammad Ali or Steve Jobs, but in my own small way I’ve come back to help make a difference at Borland. Yes, it’s now official as you can see from my real profile photos – I’ve made the decision to shake off my reclusive past and starting working again for all you developers out there.

My coming back won’t mean much unless I can help create game-changing software in the test environment and enterprise space, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. With the help of my new colleagues at Borland I’ve even laid out a vision for software development that covers some important ground including the need to:

• Keep it open

• Don’t make it big, make it better

• Focus on the user experience

• Meet every platform need

• Make it affordable

• Listen to the community

You can see me on my the journey back to Borland below. And read about my vision for software development in more detail here. It would be great to have your views on that because, after all, I’ve come back to stand up for what you – the developer – really needs.

My weekend online viewing:

At 90 minutes long, it’s a bit of an ask for anybody to watch this all the way through, but there’s some great and engaging stuff in it from the old days.

I watched this hugely engaging interview from Chase Jarvis’ this weekend.

His guest was Robert Scoble, described as: ‘gadget lover, technology savant, and Silicon Valley insider’

Robert’s Dad was an engineer in Silicon Valley when Scoble was a kid. And he saw a lot from a very privileged position.

And as he says; ever since then he’s been at then cross-roads of the old to the new in tech.

He reminisces around Mac Classic days, Basic Compilers, Pagemaker, (remember that kids?), RAM was $450 a MB, (not GB; MB!) how Steve Wozniak helped him set up a media lab at University.

Then moves onto a bit of crystal ball gazing, looking at the ‘internet of things’, new gadgets, and start-ups worth looking into.

Oh and he also promo’s (quite rightly) his new book.

Just where you need automation, you don’t find it.

I’m indebted to a new Facebook friend who emailed me the following statistic: in the test market 74% still don’t use an automated solution, and 53% are using general-purpose business software like Word and Excel.

In the SAP environment, the figures could be higher, with as many as 95% manual testing. Strange don’t you think, when there are dozens of small test tools out there, and the big monsters too? (What do you use for example? – I’d like to hear.) Anyway, maybe this polarity in test tools is the problem. Who wants lots of separate cobbled together tools for different applications, or big expensive software that’s really complicated to use?

There has to be a happy medium for SAP in particular. You work in a customized environment, with numerous patches and support packs, major new versions and your own changes. So why can’t test tools meet those requirements – i.e. be affordable, easy to implement, and quick to use and maintain? My old company, Borland, believe the power of test tools should be hidden under the hood, leaving you to get the job done easily. Some testing newcomers do have easy to use solutions but they only cover one area or can’t be applied to a broad range of applications.

Take web based applications, for example, where different browser and operating system combinations need a broad testing capability to ensure a good user experience. Or even more challenging – in the SAP world – mobile applications which create a whole new level of testing challenges. There’s just no way manual testing is going to give any kind of assurance with so many devices and interfaces out there to test.

I’ve been trying out all the latest test software, but I’m no SAP expert, so anyone out there who’s working hands-on in SAP, I’d welcome feedback on where testing’s going in your environment. Let me know what’s needed.

Test Cases: ‘A waste of time’ ?

In a recent Linkedin discussion on the Software Testing and QA Group, a participant posted the opinion in the headline above.

According to him, “Creating Test Cases is just a waste of time rather we should utilize the time in doing testing. what is your opinion?”

For what it’s worth, here’s my 2¢: I used to think creating test cases was a waste of time. I was a lone wolf, running a small team, but now I see collaboration as key.

Teams are all over the world and use cases go beyond what we think users will do – all the different devices, operating systems, browsers, cultures etc. Taking the time up-front can save countless hours of rework and unpleasant user experiences. Plus once you create test cases, you can use them over and over again adding as you go with minimal effort.

What’s also important is to tie testing in with requirements management.

The cost of rework is very high if requirements are not vetted and understood by everyone. And of course you have to factor in new testers coming on-board too. People change jobs frequently, so what happens when you lose someone? Where does the new tester jump in with minimum disruption?

You really don’t want to have to start over.

The right tools make all of the above that bit easier to manage.

Test automation — the right way:

Another neat video, with cool graphics from my good friends at Borland.

The truly awesome Silk Test.

So you think you know the mainframe?

Jeepers, I’ve been up in the hills too long, how come I missed this:

Maybe I could get Lotus in the next ad?

;-

A trip down Memory Lane:

1997 Borland Conference: Software Wars.