Halloween@Opinionology

Ten Software Testing Myths ...

I was reading Lidor Wyssocky’s blog and his post on 10 software development myths. I thought, let me re-do this list for software testing – replace words “development” by “testing” and other relevant words. Here is the list … Bingo … we, the software testers *nearly* share the list of myths (frustrations?) …

It is interesting to note that last 5 myths go unchanged … development and testing share the honor. I even doubt that Lidor might be a software tester or a developer having a strong tester like mind.

10. The tester’s task is easy: he should merely write and execute the test cases by translating requirements to test cases. Additionally log some bugs.

9. Every test case is documented. Otherwise, how on earth can we expect to do regression testing and in general repeat testing?

8. Test case Reviews are a one-time effort. All you have to do is take an artifact after it is completed, and verify that it is correct. Test case reviews, for example, should merely verify that *all* requirements are covered by test cases and EVERY REQUIREMENT is COVERED by AT LEAST ONE TEST CASE.

7. Software Testing should be like manufacturing. Each of us is a robot in an assembly line. Given a certain input, we should be able to come up automatically with the right output. Execute a set of test cases (should execute 100 test cases a day) and report pass/fail status.

6. Software Testing has nothing to do with creativity. Creativity – what? The only part which requires creativity is designing your assembly line of test case design. From that point on, everyone should just be obedient.

5. Creativity and discipline cannot live together. Creativity equals chaos. [This one remains unchanged from original list of software development myths]

4. The answer to every challenge we face in the software industry lies in defining a process. That process defines the assembly line without which we are doomed to work in a constant state of chaos. [BIG ONE …This one remains unchanged from original list of software development myths]

3. Processes have nothing to do with people. You are merely defining inputs and outputs for different parts of your machine.

2. If a process is not 100% repeatable, it is not a process. Letting people adapt the process and do “whatever they want” is just going back to chaos again.

1. Quality is all about serving the customer. Whatever the customer wants, he should get. Things that don’t concern your customer should not be of interest to you.

Why We Love Beer

There's a good Van Morrison song (Hey, are there any bad ones? A couple, yeah) called "Got to Go Back" in which the Celtic belter sings:

Keep me away from porter or whiskey
Don't play anything sentimental, it'll make me cry

Van the Man is singing about his N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors, though we suspect he doesn't know it.

NMDA receptors are part of the brain's system of neurons and synapses, and they relate to memory.

In other words, beer helps memory.

Scientists performed experiments with rats and found that they remembered things better after a couple of beers (the rats, not the scientists).

Previous research had found a correlation between alcohol consumption and the performance of the receptors. So, as only a scientist could put it, "We thought it was worth pursuing, since ethanol drinking is such a common pattern of human behavior."

Alcohol's effect on those receptors may explain why you think of her (you know who) after a couple of pints. Or why Red Sox fans, after a few, relive dark moments involving the Yankees.

One of the scientists says that drinking to drown your sorrows "could actually paradoxically promote traumatic memories and lead to further drinking, contributing to the development of alcoholism."

There's your early-warning system. When you start reminiscing, you've had enough.

Will the world end in 2012?

"I hesitated to write this article because I did not want to scare people. But I was told by an angelic being that I must."
                                                                                  By Jaime Licauco;Inquirer

Smoking and Your Brain

A new study says smoking apparently improves your odds for getting dementia in your old age.

It's not surprising, since getting oxygen to your noggin is crucial for brain health, and smoking reduces the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream.

It's also obvious that your brain isn't working too well if you light up in the first place.