Engineering Quality

Complex system have inherent flaws or exploits that are often unintended side effects many things, the defined requirements, the developers time and resource constants

Regression Testing

When doing regression testing its good to know what your ressesing. For instance if your testing an enhancement then you'll need to be updating the test suite for changes. If you testing for bug fix then the test may have already covered this and thus has a fail for it. If you testing to full fill quartler audits then automation is the way to go.

When code breaks, keep breaking it...

Nothing more fun than getting a new build with fixes that have regessed old issues, created new issues or have not address an issue, though code had been added or changed.

Most Software Stinks! and beyond

http://www.chc-3.com/pub/beautifulsoftware.htm

http://www.developer.com/tech/article.php/923751

Navajo Tradition of development

When there is no documentation either via comments or business requirement documentation or flow chart, when all you have are the words of your predecessor and maybe some instruction on how they performed the functions of their job.

Unit testing: When dev smokes in the sandbox QA cleans up the butts

Knowing that the code works and what to do if it don't.

Where is it running; local, prod, sandbox?
In the Sandbox where is it stopping; echo statements, database connections?
What do the logs say? Log, Log its better than bad its good.
Does an error write; to the screen, view source, URL?
Does the code meet the stakeholders expected results?

If so then so do so

else write a bug.

Paying the dues

You'll hear this quite a bit in QA.

A testers dream...

http://www.crn.com/hardware/211200178

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes

A favorite Latin quote, "Who watches the watchmen?" Quality Assurance is the answer or at least it is if you as an SQA engineer. The watchmen being the developers and QA being the ones watching them. Since testing is simply the observations of how an action or inaction is behaving based on predefined situations. And we know from the "Heisendburg concept", (not the Heisendburg Theory) that any form of observation is also an interaction that the act of testing can also affect that which is being tested. Having SQA does not mean that the developer is not testing thier own code but gives a fresh set of eyes and a more pure state of observations rather than a state of change and observe.

Software Quality Assuracne

This is what I do.