Ash WinterShort stuff here:@northern_tester

Long stuff here:testingisbelieving.blogspot.co.u

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Tested to Death… Or how testing can trap you in a team and product death spiral

So, I’m a tester right…

• Weird topic• Too much testing is bad• Serving tests is bad• Testing the same thing at different levels can be bad

Pop quiz hotshots…Quick state of the nation. How many of you…• Think you do too much testing?

• Think you do too little testing?

• Think your testing is effective?

Let me tell you a story…

•Fansz•Great dudes assembled•Ready FTW

There was a strategy…

You’ve all seen the testing pyramid before right?

Funny business…

Unit Tests == Integration Tests == Acceptance Tests

Nosey parkers…Integration tests poked their noses in unit and acceptance tests business.

Weird smells…Change the tests to get the code to pass?

Eyebrows raised…Injected dependencies

were mocking us…

Brows furrowed…Lets try other test runners. That will help.

Quicksand…

• New stuff? Slow

• Change stuff? Slower

Worst of all, sad faces…

• Frustrating, endless discussion• Sad dependant teams• Sad sponsors

Ultimately…

A Dream (and Team) Expired*

*Really not the only reason. Didn’t help

But don’t despair…

In life and testing, there is no fail, only learning!

#1 All tests must die

• Tests have a life and a death• You CAN kill them ALL!• Be pointy with tests that pass ALL the time!

#2 Chasing sunk cost will sink you

• Inventory• 1 line of code, change 800 tests• Think value, not cost

#3 Unit Tests?

• Erm• Make sure you are actually writing unit tests

#4 You can write tests first…

• Your app is not special• More likely to have only the tests you need

#5 DependenciesYou are the child, the dependency is the parent

#6 Checkocalypse Now

How many times do you need to check 1 + 1 = 2?

#7 Small • Very small packs of tests that reflect the system• Separate ignored tests• Then destroy them!

#8 Pairing is smart

• Two brains write better tests• Hint - Especially a tester and dev

#9 Use more than one model

• Marick's Quadrants par example• Too many technology facing tests…

#n Context or ‘it depends’

We weren’t even in beta.(gently weeps)

And in summary…• Testing is great!• Evolve your strategy!• It serves you, not the other way around…

Questions?