101 test cases for a pen

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Catalin Anastasoaie

Did someone ever asked you to test a pen or a pencil? Or, did you ever had the curiosity to see how many test cases can you find for a pen(cil)?

Well, I did! And here is my 101 list of possible test cases for a given pen(cil):

What kind of pen is it?
Does it work with ink or with liquid gel?
If it uses ink, is it a fountain pen or a dip pen? (see Wikipedia)
Is it a ballpoint pen?
Is it a marker? If yes, is it a whiteboard marker or a permanent one?
If it is a whiteboard marker, does it write on whiteboards?
But can you use the same whiteboard marker to write on other surfaces?
If it is a permanent marker, is it really permanent?
If it is a marker used to highlight text, can you do that? Can you still see the text after highlighting it?
Is it a rollerball pen?
What kind of ink can you use with it? Does is have to be a special ink? (or color)
How often do you have to refill it?
With what color does it write?
Does it come in other colors? Is it a multi color pen? Could it be?
What about the outside color?
Does it come in other colors?
Do the colors have any meaning or purpose other than esthetic?
Does it write?
How thin or thick does it write? and can I adjust this?
Can I use it for drawing?
Can I write with it on paper? normal paper?
Can it write on oilpaper?
Can I change the color it writes with?
Do we have any specifications?
What are its dimensions? Are they according to its specs? Continue reading →

10 things NOT to do in software testing

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Catalin Anastasoaie

Here is a list of 10 things that every tester should NOT do.

You can find all the items bellow as being the reason of many discussions between people lately. I think that it has something to do with the “agile” bubble but I might be wrong. My opinion is that all of them are valid no matter how your team is doing software.

Don’t talk to the developers
If you do talk to them, and they ask you out for beer, say No
Always follow best practices (~~Come up with a process to resolve another process~~)
Never ask for help when in distress
Say No to any new idea that doesn’t come from you
Keep everything you know for yourself / Don’t communicate with your colleagues
Don’t look into the code
Start testing only when you have the complete specification
Don’t ask what to look for when testing new features
Avoid peer reviews as much as possible (e.g. test documents, test cases, test media)

Leave a comment if you feel like adding your Dont’s to this list …

DISCLAIMER: The list above contains the most commons mistakes made by software testers. You should NOT follow any of it if you care about your project.

When to ask the questions

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Catalin Anastasoaie

Discovering your product and finding out what is the actual need that it is trying to solve and who will be the users that will use it is one of the keys to success.

With that being said, take time in discovering your product. Don’t jump over this step just because you think that it will win you more time for testing. Not knowing what your product is about and how will it be used and, most importantly, by whom will always cause you trouble.

Software testing is not about funding all the bugs in your product, software testing is about the important bugs as soon as possible. And in order to do this you have to spend some time first in understanding what exactly is it that you need to test and how.

I’m writing about this idea because I think that this is one of the most common mistakes testers do and because I, as a tester, did a lot in the past (and still doing it from time to time). With my mind set on findings bugs fast I was assaulting the product with the first idea that was popping out in my mind on how to test it. But not to far from where I was starting I was realizing that I am running straight towards a dead end.

When testing without a mission a lot of time is spent in searching and learning new things about different aspects of the product but not so much in finding bugs within the actual product. This isn’t always a bad thing but if your time is limited then spending it all just on learning might not be such a wise thing to do.

Having a goal helps me to canalize all my energy towards reaching it and saves me from spending time searching for information that is not relevant in the context of my goal. A clear mission also gives me a structure on which I can rely and to which I can always come back for validation/verification.

Testing with a mission will also help you in answering questions like: How much of the product did you test? What areas of the product did you covered? How long until you will finish?

Contributing to DailyTestingTip

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Catalin Anastasoaie

It all started 2 months ago when I have first discovered the @dailytestingtip project and decided to contribute to it.

But before going thru my story let me tell you a little about this project and how it works.

The DailyTestingTip project has been started by Anne-Marie Charrett (http://mavericktester.com) and, quoting from the Daily Testing Tip website (http://www.dailytestingtip.com), “… is a group of dedicated testers who have come together to bring you little gems of testing goodness to your Twitter account.”

How does it works?

With the exception of Tuesday and the weekends, each weekday has a person assigned to it who is responsible of sharing a testing tip with the community. The tip is sent from the @dailytestingtip twitter account 3 times per day at different hours in order reach all the major time zones.

From the moment you enroll yourself in the project you have to contribute with a testing tip per week for the next 6 weeks.

Tuesday, is the day of week reserved for Tag Tuesday when people all over the glob can share their testing tips on twitter by simply adding the #dttip tag to their tweet.

How can I subscribe to these tips?

It’s easy, you just have to follow http://twitter.com/dailytestingtip

Want to contribute to the project?

If you would like to contribute to dailytestingtip and believe you can consistenly supply a daily testing tip just send a direct message to @dailytestingtip from your twitter account.

Continue reading →