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STARWEST 2006 Concurrent Sessions
Go To: Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
View by Track
| Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:45 AM | | | T1 is a Double-Track Session! | Management Networking
Johanna Rothman, Rothman Consulting Group, Inc.
Sometimes, it feels as if you're the only test/development/project manager/director/VP you know with your particular problems. But I can guarantee you this—you're not alone. If you have problems you’d like to discuss and start to solve, this session is for you. Each participant will have a chance to both air their concerns and help others. You'll have a chance to meet other managers across industries and countries; hear how your peers have solved problems; listen to the current issues your peers are addressing; solve some problems; hear from experts; and build your personal contact network. Bring your notebook, a pen, and plenty of business cards.
• Learn multiple problem-solving techniques
• Practice some peer coaching
• Ask for and receive expert advice |
| | Rapid Thinking: When Time Is Tight
Jon Bach, Quardev Laboratories
How many different kinds of yellow fruit can you name in one minute? Try it and the tension may feel familiar, like testing under a deadline—ideas quickly come to mind (or perhaps they don’t), flashes of victory when you find a good one, keeping your mind agile-but-organized as time counts down. Since the main constraint on most software projects is time, Jon Bach will demonstrate some heuristics to trigger your imagination that will help you rapidly generate a variety of meaningful test ideas, whether through quiet contemplation or group brainstorming. Jon will discuss a way to help you know when you've thought of enough ideas—achieving a reasonable sense of completeness and minimizing the chance that you have overlooked some important test.
• Learn techniques for triggering your imagination
• Research and results from brainstorming experiments
• Discover a heuristic framework reaching “completeness” |
| | Keyword-Driven Testing: An Automation Success Story
Paulo Barros, Progressive Insurance
Successfully implementing any automation tool is challenging. Using keyword-driven testing for system and regression testing is an additional challenge. Paulo Barros shares the techniques he used to build, manage, and deliver effective testing using a custom built keyword-driven automation tool. Paulo describes in depth six important changes that must be implemented. First, organizational change where testers adopt a generalist rather than a specialist approach. Second, creating a support infrastructure for the tool. Third, developing the processes to be used by testers, developers, and project managers. Fourth, implementing a training plan giving testers the required tool skills to effect organizational change. Fifth, creating a new test design methodology that focuses on automation rather than manual testing. And sixth, creating a team to support other testers making the transition to automation.
• Examine the process of keyword-driven testing
• Discover how the approach to testing must change
• Learn how to create a center for supporting all of automation’s stakeholders |
| | Using Mind Maps to Document Exploratory Testing
Samuli Lahnamäki, Tieto-X
Mind maps were developed in the late 1960s by Tony Buzan as a way of helping students take notes using only key words and images. Mind maps are quick to record and because of their visual approach, much easier to remember and review. Samuli Lahnamäki describes how mind mapping can be used as a logging tool for exploratory testing and what information can be later derived from the testing maps. A pair of testers, one performing exploratory testing while the other records their journey with a mind map, is an effective documentation style. One concern with exploratory testing has always been its lack of a testing trail. Mind maps provide the documentation that can be converted to a formal test script if required.
• Discover how mind maps can be an effective documentation tool in exploratory testing
• Convert mind maps to testing scripts
• Explore the mind mapping technique |
| | | T5 is a Double-Track Session! | Lightning Talks: A Potpourri of 5-Minute Presentations
Robert Sabourin, AmiBug.com Inc
Lightning Talks are nine five-minute talks in a fifty-minute time period. LightningTalks represent a much smaller investment of time than track speaking and offer the chance to try conference speaking without the heavy commitment. Lightning Talks are an opportunity to present your single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea quickly. Use this as an opportunity to give a first time talk or to present a new topic for the first time. Maybe you just want to ask a question, invite people to help you with your project, boast about something you did, or tell a short cautionary story. These things are all interesting and worth talking about, but there might not be enough to say about them to fill up a full track presentation. For more information on how to submit your Lightning Talk, visit www.sqe.com/lightningtalks.asp. Hurry! The deadline for submissions is August 28, 2006. |
| | | Thursday, October 19, 2006 11:15 AM | | All I Need to Know about Testing I Learned from Dr. Seuss
Robert Sabourin, AmiBug.com Inc
Through the stories and parables of Theodor Geisel, we can learn simple, yet remarkably powerful approaches for solving testing problems. In a tour of common issues we encounter in testing—test planning, staff training, communications, test case design, test execution, status reporting, and more, Robert Sabourin explains how you can apply lessons from the great books of Dr. Seuss to testing. Green Eggs and Ham teaches us combinations; Go, Dog, Go teaches us the value of persistence; Because a Little Bug Went Kachoo teaches us about side effects, chaos, and risk management. Others such as Hop on Pop, Marvin K. Mooney, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut, and Inside Outside UpSide Down all have important lessons about how to get things done on software projects. Learn some simple truths and take away some heuristic testing aids to become a more productive and effective tester.
• Learn important heuristics to better test planning
• Discover different testing approaches that can be used for the same problem
• Examine a back to basics way to improve performance |
| | Tomorrow’s Test Lab Today: One Touch Test Bed Automation
Steven Kishi, VMware
Many software organizations are struggling with the complexity of their testing environments especially with the rapidly growing number of production environments. In many cases, the cost of creating those testing environments is prohibitive. Functional testing tools combined with new virtual lab automation (VLA) technology is changing the way test teams deal with this problem. Steve Kishi will demonstrate how VLA software can create myriads of virtual environments quickly and at far less cost than physical environments. In addition, Steve will discuss how an automated test bed framework can shave months off software development projects, reduce development and test equipment costs, and dramatically increase the quality of delivered software systems. Learn about this new technology and evaluate whether it is right for your organization.
• Differentiate test beds from test environments
• Create one-touch test beds ready for executing tests
• Determine the ROI of VLA technology |
| | Squeezing Bugs Out of Mission Critical Software with Session-Based Testing
David James, HEI, Inc. Advanced Medical Division
Software created in regulated industries such as medical devices must be developed and tested according to agency-imposed process standards. Every requirement must be tested, and every risk must be mitigated. Could defects still lurk in software wrung out by such an in-depth process? Unfortunately, yes. In fact, software defects are a major cause of medical device recalls each year. However, by supplementing mandated requirements-based verification with session-based exploratory testing (SBT), the overall quality of mission-critical software can be significantly improved. Based on eight studies, David James describes how to fit targeted exploratory testing into a regulated process. Specifically, David has found that defect discovery is twenty times less expensive through SBT than through formal verification. Applying SBT early, before formal verification allows a less formal and cheaper defect-resolution process. When used after formal verification, SBT found an average of fifty defects per product—defects that formal verification missed.
• Learn what doesn’t work in regulated testing processes
• Understand how to implement SBT
• Evaluate how session-based testing might benefit your projects |
| | Testing for Global Customers
Bj Rollison, Microsoft Corporation
More and more organizations are creating applications that are used around the globe. These applications must be customized for various national conventions including time, date, number, and currency formats. In addition, these applications must process data from non-English keyboards in languages such as Russian, Japanese, Hindi, and Arabic. Additional complications include string processing, sorting, and sequencing; character conversion; and bi-directional language support for Middle Eastern languages. Bj Rollison shows how an English-language Windows platform can be used to perform globalization testing without testers having knowledge of non-English languages. Bj shows how to select and use non-English character strings as test data. In addition, Bj provides examples of typical bugs found during globalization testing, methods to detect them, and techniques to generate automated tests using foreign character sets.
• Explore the basics of globalization testing
• Learn the value of early globalization testing
• Discover how to identify common globalization defects |
| | | Thursday, October 19, 2006 1:30 PM | | Skill Diversity: The Key to Building the Ideal Test Team
Barry Power, Bayer Corporation
The dictionary defines “diversity” as “variety”—and that’s just what an effective test team needs. It’s much easier to hire people just like you—after all, they are easy to understand and manage. But Barry Power has found that teams consisting of all thinkers, all planners, all doers, all coordinators, or all finishers are not as effective as teams with a diverse composition. Barry has built powerful teams when combining leading-edge thinkers with nose-to-the-grindstone doers, the steadiness of experience with the enthusiasm of rookies, and the benefits of knowledge with the vision that only new eyes possess. Join Barry as he describes successful teams in fields as diverse as aerospace rockets and medical devices. Learn how you can create more effective teams through diversity.
• Discover the powerful meaning of diversity
• Learn what characteristics to value in teams
• Match team members with team roles and responsibilities |
| | | T11 is a Double-Track Session! | Software Inspections: Key Elements of Success
Edward Weller, Software Technology Transition
Inspections have over thirty years of history improving software quality and productivity. Numerous studies have shown inspection is the most effective process for discovering defects. Yet today, inspections are not widely used in the software industry. Why are they not more prevalent? Ed Weller knows that successful implementation of inspections requires a thorough understanding of the process as well as the cultural and organizational roadblocks to implementation. Knowing when to apply inspections, or other defect identification techniques, also requires a cost-benefit analysis. Measuring and improving inspections requires an understanding of inspection process metrics and appropriate corrective actions. Ed discusses the inspection process, measurement, common pitfalls, and how to implement a successful program in your organization.
• Learn what makes inspections different from other types of reviews
• Understand when and how to begin inspections
• Discover the key elements needed for successful inspections |
| | Right Under Your Fingertips: Built-in Windows Tools for Test Automation
Matt Lowrie, Anark Corporation
Launching a test automation effort can be a daunting undertaking. An abundance of testing tools are available—but if you do not have previous automation experience, how can you know if you are investing in the right solution? A safe alternative is to begin with automation tools already included in the Microsoft Windows operating system. You can use these tools to build your own test automation system that produces professional results. Matt Lowrie demonstrates several Windows utilities that can be linked together to create a basic test automation framework. To begin, you’ll need a basic knowledge of JScript (Javascript) or VBScript. Windows Script Host can be used to execute applications and gather and report test results. Learn how to automate tests using Internet Explorer and the Microsoft® Office Suite.
• Learn how to access the Windows file system
• Use XML for documenting test results
• Develop HTML-based graphical user interfaces for your tests |
| | Testing SOA Software: The Headless Dilemma
John Michelsen, iTKO, Inc.
Once we were able to ensure quality with some degree of certainty by testing our applications through their user interfaces. As SOA systems based on Web services proliferate, testing through the GUI isn’t going to be sufficient. SOA systems are assembled from components, “headless” chunks of encapsulated business functionality. If we are building the components themselves, we will want to test their functionality and their interfaces. We will want to ensure their proper behavior no matter what application uses them and no matter how unruly it is. If we are building SOA applications from components, we will want to test our applications in their entirety. But remember, our applications may not have GUI interfaces. Join John Michelsen as he shares what you’ll need to know to effectively test SOA applications.
• Learn how services-based software changes the game for software testers
• Discover the testing methods and skills you will need in the SOA world
• Consider the types of systems you will be expected to test |
| | Testing Web Services in Four Key Dimensions
Dave Mount, J-Soup Software, Inc
As Web services become a more prominent component of many applications, effective testing of these components is increasingly more important. Dave Mount discusses testing Web services in four different dimensions: functionality, interoperability, security, and performance. Functionality testing is familiar territory, but the other dimensions may not be. Although interoperability could be assumed, differences in .NET, Java, and XML implementations among different vendors may cause interoperability failures. Security testing is also important, since Web services can inadvertently expose capabilities and data that should be protected. Finally, Web services are subject to performance issues due to message handling, interface layers, and potentially large data payloads. Real-time and batch performance characteristics should be tested to simulate the range of possible uses of Web services.
• Learn the important differences in testing Web services
• Focus your testing efforts on the four key dimensions
• Ensure your Web services quality through effective testing |
| | | Thursday, October 19, 2006 3:00 PM | | Building a Testing Factory
Patricia Medhurst, RBC Financial Group
At Royal Bank Financial Group we are building a testing factory. Our vision is that code enters as raw material and exits as our finished product—thoroughly tested. As a roadmap for our work, we have used the IT Information Library (ITIL) standard. ITIL is well known throughout Europe and Canada but has yet to make inroads in the United States. It defines four disciplines: service support, service delivery, the business perspective, and application management. These disciplines define processes such as incident management, problem management, availability management, change management, and many others. Join Patricia Medhurst as she discusses their success and their next steps in completing their testing factory.
• Learn how Royal Bank built their test factory
• Understand how to integrate individual process into a cohesive whole
• Determine if ITIL would be useful for your test organization |
| | Complete Your Automation with Runtime Analysis
Poonam Chitale, IBM Rational
So, you have solid automated tests to qualify your product. You have run these tests on various platforms. You have mapped the tests back to the design and requirements documents to verify full coverage. You have confidence that results of these tests are reliable and accurate. But you are still seeing defects and customer issues—why? Could it be that your test automation is not properly targeted? Solid automated testing can be enhanced through runtime analysis. Runtime analysis traces execution paths, evaluates code coverage, checks memory usage and memory leaks, exposes performance bottlenecks, and searches out threading problems. Adding runtime analysis to your automation efforts provides you with information about your applications that cannot be gained even from effective automated testing.
• Learn how runtime analysis enhances automation
• Evaluate the pros and cons of code coverage
• Review the causes of memory leaks |
| | The Art of SOA Testing: Theory and Practice
Rizwan Mallal, Crosscheck Networks
SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) based on Web Services standards has ushered in a new era of how applications are being designed, developed, and deployed. But the promise of SOA to increase development productivity poses new challenges for testers, challenges dealing with multiple Web Services standards and implementations, legacy application (of unknown quality) now exposed as Web services, weak or non-existent security controls, and services of possibly diverse origins chained together to create applications. Learn concepts and techniques to master these challenges through powerful techniques such as WSDL chaining, schema mutation and automated filtration. Learn how traditional techniques such as black, gray, and white box testing are applied to SOA testing to maximize test coverage, minimize effort, and release better products.
• Learn the Four Pillars of SOA Testing
• Use gray box techniques to enter the domain of white box testing
• Learn the powerful concept behind schema mutation |
| | Test Estimation: Painful or Painless?
Lloyd Roden, Grove Consultants
As an experienced test manager, Lloyd Roden believes that test estimation is one of the most difficult parts of test management. In estimation we must deal with destabilizing dependencies such as poor quality code received by testers. Lloyd presents seven powerful ways to estimate test effort. Some are easy and quick but prone to abuse; others are more detailed and complex but may be more accurate. Specifically, Lloyd discusses FIA (Finger in the Air), Formula or Percentage, Historical, Parkinson’s Law v. Pricing-to-Win estimates, Work Breakdown Structures, Estimation Models, and Assessment Estimation. Spreadsheets and utilities will be available during this session to help you as tester or test manager estimate better. By the end of this session you should feel that the painful experience of test estimation could, in fact, become a painless one.
• Uncover common destabilizing dependencies
• Learn how to communicate your estimates (and what they really mean) to senior management
• Discover the appropriateness of each of these methods to your work |
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