Raising Expectations of Testing:
Part 3 - Testers

Before we can start looking at our specific expectations as testers, we have to understand a few of life's general principles.

If we raise our expectations of other people, we will have to earn their increased respect. Persons will need good reason to think more highly of us as testers, and we will have to provide those reasons from well-directed and meaningful hard work.

In order for us to become good testers, we need to understand what is involved, and believe it is a worthwhile pursuit.

Let's begin by sketching a positive image of ourselves (now, and as a goal to strive towards).

A career tester:

• Understands the application they are testing better than the (business) users. They continually seek to better understand the business context, environment, risks, and users of the application.

• Understands coding constructs and principles. He/she understands development concepts such as sequence, selection, iteration, inheritance, data typing, instantiation, variable scoping, binary searches, register sizes, overflow and underflow, hexadecimal representation of information, page-faulting, linked-lists and numerous other concepts and constructs and their common weaknesses. Has studied, or seeks to study these things. Can develop, but chooses not to (unless he/she becomes involved in test automation).

• Knows the software development life cycle, and the balance of relationships between cost, time and quality for each life-cycle stage better than the project manager who has not
yet fully understood quality aspects.

• Can differentiate between good requirements specifications and mediocre or poorer attempts at the above.

• Can and does intelligently take part in design reviews.

• Has above average skills in office applications such as word processing, database usage and design, spreadsheet mathematics, and graphing techniques, and realises that some statistical knowledge is handy.

• Has been formally trained in testing techniques and theory, and seeks to read books and articles to further his or her knowledge and interest in the subject.

• Seeks to improve his/her communication, negotiation, project management, technical, critical thinking, and other skills.

• Professionally and courteously serves the business, users, management, architects, developers and other testers.

• And does many other things to build their career and skills.

I've helped to start the ball rolling and I'm sure you can add to the list. Don't be disheartened if you are just starting this journey, rather realise that it is an interesting, challenging and worthwhile path to follow and that for a real tester there is little time for boredom.

One business manager I met recently summed it up pretty succinctly by stating, "Testers need a higher rank". If you are a manager reading this - expect more of your testers!

Having laid the groundwork, what should we be expecting from other people and things?

From our careers: It is important to realise that we must take ownership of our own careers. Management will, however, increasingly recognise the benefits of employing career testers as opposed to ad hoc or no resources for testing.

Persons seeking to be testers should expect more of universities and technical colleges in the field of directed testing studies. Many three-year courses in computer science or information systems do not adequately train the disciplined framework within which, their graduates will increasingly have to work.

In the next five years, expect to progressively see experienced testers move to board level in many companies, as software quality issues increasingly differentiate companies. In this vein, expect to see growing support from management and the business towards each company's testing needs.

From the business: Expect a higher share of money and resources to be allocated to company testing needs.

Expect to represent the business needs more formally and to have closer communication with the business, even during the software development stages.

Expect testers to receive higher ranking and recognition than they have done in the past, as the significance of their contribution becomes better understood by maturing management teams.

From the project manager: Expect savvy project managers to require more quantitative and detailed testing progress reports from you.

Expect to be increasingly consulted at early project stages and to be invited to design reviews, comment on project feasibility studies, and to partake in inspections including code inspections.

Expect good project managers to have a growing understanding of testing and quality issues as part of their project management training.

From business analysts: Expect a higher quality of specification. The specification will be created, it will be on time and it will be kept up-to-date. It will be all these things, unless losses and write-offs are acceptable to your company.

Expect the business analysts to understand their key role in producing high-quality (testable, complete, unambiguous) specifications. Good business practice requires them to work together with testers at this early life cycle phase to remove as many specification defects as possible (before they are designed and coded into the system).

From developers: Expect professional developers to unit and integration test their software thoroughly before submitting it to test.

Expect less formal developers to gradually decrease as a percentage of a healthy workforce.

Expect assistance from developers in white-box testing, load testing exercises, and defect characterisation, as you will need it.

From other testers: Expect professional behaviour, and a passion and understanding of the domain that is software/system testing.

Expect support from testing specialists. We have neither got the time nor the capacity to be excellent in each of the numerous growing test specialisations such as usability, load/stress, methodology, regression, and security testing.

As a test manager expect to have to balance your teams across the different testing skill domains.

From the next few years: I've sketched expectations that will be commonplace within the next three to five years. In the interim you may be lucky to have your expectations met, or you may encounter folk who have not yet understood testing and/or the times they are living in.

Be patient; leave copies of Test Focus in appropriate spots to catch their attention, behave professionally and politely to make your convictions about testing known.

Good luck with your careers. I hope to meet many of you along the road.

Wayne Mallinson

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