Month: November 2016

#BREWT… so it begins

There Be Dragons

Over the past years, peer conferences on software testing have sprung up all over the world. Europe in particular has seen a lot of strange acronyms emerge: DEWT, DWET, SWET, CEWT, LEWT, TITAN, PEST,…

When initial talks started for DEWT (the Dutch Exploratory Workshop in Testing) in 2010, I jumped on the Dutch train. It’s been a great – nay, fantastic – ride so far. But there was always that undisclosed little area that was conspicuously absent in the peer conference landscape. One country that testing-wise had “Here Be Dragons” written all over it: Belgium.

Sure, there were plans, ideas and good intentions, but rarely the energy. This is were Beren Van Daele decided to kick things up a notch. With energy to spare, he registered a site, fired off some invitatons and started planning that first peer conference on Belgian soil.

BREWT force!

That is how BREWT was born. The Belgian Research Event and Workshop on Testing. Undoubtedly similar to DEWT but with a distinguished Burgundian twist (and most likely some uncut Belgian surrealism thrown in the mix). I see BREWT not only as a peer conference, but also a sounding board of professionals, a place to discuss and share ideas, an opportunity to sharpen our skills and thinking. A movement? Let’s see where it leads us.

Et tu, BREWT?

Our first major event will be a peer conference in the fall of 2017. If you’re interested in joining, we would like to hear from you!

For more information, visit us at http://brewtconf.wordpress.com.

 

 

 

 

Eurostar 2016 sketchnotes

In my continuing deliberate sketchnoting practice, I documented the Eurostar sessions I attended (or rather, the sessions for which I arrived on time to get properly set up).

Testing the inside of your head – Liz Keogh

testing-the-inside-of-your-head-liz-keogh-eurostar-2016

Lessons learned from the worst bug I ever found – Ru Cindrea

lessons-learned-from-the-worst-bug-i-ever-found-ru-cindrea-eurostar-2016

The critique of AI in the age of the net – Harry Collins

the-critique-of-ai-in-the-age-of-the-net

Stories from testing healthcare.gov – Ben Simo

stories-from-testing-healthcare-gov-ben-simo-eurostar-2016

Kolb’s testing cycle – Beren Van Daele

kolbs-testing-cycle-beren-van-daele-eurostar-2016

Growing a company test community – Alex Schladebeck

growing-a-company-test-community-alex-schladebeck-eurostar-2016

Don’t learn the rules, learn from the rules – Dale Emery

dont-learn-the-rules-learn-from-the-rules-dale-emery-eurostar-2016

The Power of Doubt – Becoming a Software Skeptic (Paper)

Last week I had the privilege of presenting at the EuroSTAR conference in Stockholm, as always a pleasant experience that deserves a more lengthy blog post, later. I would like to use this first post in nearly two years (yes, this blog makes even tumbleweed feel lonely) to publish the paper that accompanied my presentation, “The Power of Doubt – Becoming a Software Skeptic”.

title-slide-power-of-doubt

The whole process of writing this paper was quite the adventure, submerging myself in the wondrous world of skepticism, science, philosophy, pseudoscience and the paranormal for almost two years. Somehow I hoped to find clues to help me with my testing. I think I did.

Here is my paper in pdf format. Enjoy.

The Power of Doubt – Becoming a Software Skeptic.pdf

PS:
Tip of the hat to Kristoffer Nordstrom, with whom I started an accountability partnership to start and keep us both blogging. I realise this isn’t a full-fledged blog post, but it’s a start. Right?