Posted by Albert Gareev on Apr 10, 2019
This article was published on StickyMinds – the TERMS for Test Automation Risk or Success, March, 2019. People have always been keen to use tools. In fact, use of tools contributed to making us sapient beings, as we evolved our utensils from primitive objects to complex mechanics. All that history has led to our current […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Dec 06, 2018
This article was published on StickyMinds – Keeping Accessibility in Mind: Cognition, Memory, and Attention, November, 2018. Digital accessibility refers to assistive technologies as well as to accessibility of web and mobile applications and electronic documents. Implementing accessibility includes such technical aspects as using proper HTML and supporting a range of browsers and devices. But […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Aug 13, 2018
This article was published on StickyMinds – Is It Worth It for Software Testers to Get Certification?, August, 2018. Note. I said everything I wanted to say about certification schemes here: Fact checking: “Is testing certification worth it for getting a job?” The article below is a “vanilla” version. When I moved to Canada back […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jun 05, 2018
This article was published on StickyMinds – Getting Started with Business Intelligence Testing, May, 2018. There’s a bit of hype in terms such as business intelligence, data analytics, and data mining. In testing terms, though, it means working with scripts and databases, often without traditional GUI interaction. But core testing skills—analysis, synthesis, modeling, observation, and […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Feb 21, 2018
This article was published on StickyMinds – Understanding Accessibility Testing: Think like a Dweller, Not a Builder, February, 2018. Digital accessibility aims to make any software usable by the widest possible audience. This includes software supported by users’ assistive technologies as well as accessibility within web browsers and mobile devices. Assistive technologies enable users with […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Dec 20, 2017
This article was published on StickyMinds – Lessons Learned Testing Angular Applications, December, 2017. Web applications have evolved from simplistic forms to highly interactive screens. Implementation of all these interactions requires a lot of JavaScript code on the front end—that is, code that is run by the browsers on users’ devices. When there’s a lot […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Sep 15, 2017
This article was published on StickyMinds – Methods and Tools for Data-Driven API Testing, September, 2017. Software testing has many forms and breeds, but one major distinction has always been based on the approach—either working with the code or interacting with the product. The former was typically a prerogative of programmers while testers have concerned […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jul 31, 2017
This article was published on StickyMinds – What Testers Need in Their Accessibility Testing Toolkits, July, 2017. The concept that software should be usable by the widest possible audience has been around for more than twenty years, yet for quite a while it remained out of the mainstream of testing and development efforts. This has […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on May 25, 2017
Based on my Quora answer to “What is “Testing in production” as a concept?“ “What is testing in production?” – Follow along.. Product owners and project managers need to make decisions about software and software development process. Effective decision making is informed decision making. Effective testing provides information directly relevant to the risks and concerns […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on May 04, 2017
It certainly does help testers to understand code and be able to code on their own. So I welcome “coding kata” movement. In fact, I can recommend some good ones, like Coding Games. Not only to testers and wanna be programmers, also to teenagers and their parents. Exercises in a context, presented in a spectacular […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on May 02, 2017
Continuing my thoughts on alternative facts in testing and quality assurance. Happy Path? Guilty as charged. I, too, used to say “happy path testing” and “happy path coverage”. What I meant was something like.. eh.. “a typical user entering typical data in a typical way”. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depends on how to look at it) […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Apr 26, 2017
This very phrase “alternative facts” recently has become something. It is used mostly in a sarcastic way. With this post I’m starting a series on alternative facts about testing and quality assurance. Let me begin with a couple of stories from my experiences. Story One Software development team works on a set of features for […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Mar 22, 2017
Preamble Let me begin with a scene from a book of my childhood.. Image text below. Banner reads: “Of the London and Continental Theatres, In their Thrilling Tragedy of “THE KING’S CAMELEOPARD, or THE ROYAL NONESUCH ! ! !” Admission 50 cents. “Then at the bottom was the biggest line of all, which said: […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Dec 06, 2016
“Is manual testing dying?”, “Is manual testing dead?”, “When manual testing will be completely replaced by automation?”,.. These questions come up very frequently. I see them on LinkedIn. I see them on Quora. I see them on Twitter. I’d categorize responses I’ve seen loosely in 3 types. Samples below. “NO! It’s not manual!!! It’s all […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Dec 02, 2016
Earlier this month, Ministry of Testing released an article named “The One Page Test Plan“. Presented, was rather a one page template for a test plan yet the article is good and thought provoking. Coincidentally, a similar question came up on Quora: “How would you define a test plan for this app?“. So I went […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Nov 29, 2016
Another day, another good question on Quora. For years, I’ve been answering “what is performance testing?” in a variety of ways. In a technical way, I tell about process, tools, scripts, measurements, and analysis. More often though, I need to convey the concept to a non-technical or at least not very technical person. Finding a […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Nov 07, 2016
Another good question on Quora. Answering: What is domain testing? ***** All terms originate somewhere else, by analogy. Here’s the origin for “domain”. Image source: Domain of a function Domain is all possible inputs to the function Range is all possible outputs of the function ***** At the fundamental level, everything is data in computers. […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Oct 31, 2016
First things first. I’m not a big fan of test case based approach, neither I’ve seen testing estimates that weren’t at best guesstimates. But people ask questions, and this is their starting point. Enough been said about smart-ass approach. Instead of critiquing those willing to learn let’s help them understand and let’s help them to […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Oct 10, 2016
Despite of all critique and challenges, automation is a valuable aspect of testing strategy. Every new automator needs to answer questions like that: “How do you choose which test cases to automate?” While everything regarding testing is very specific, we may try to give an answer through general idea supplemented with concrete examples. Cross-posting my […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Aug 17, 2016
These are the points I captured while reading 2nd part of “Organizing Our Homes” chapter of the book “The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload” by Dr. Daniel J. Levitin. Despite of the name of the chapter, many of these points apply to organization in general, be that at home , […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jul 05, 2016
These are the points I captured while reading 1st part of “Organizing our homes” chapter of the book “The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload” by Dr. Daniel J. Levitin. Many of these points apply to organization both at home and at work. See also my comments and examples below. Working […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jun 14, 2016
A few days ago, Keith Klain, Executive Director, CEO, and a highly recognized leader in testing industry made a comment on Twitter. I couldn’t agree more!!! It was disheartening for me to witness over the years that one of the most passionate context-driven leaders, the one who taught empathy and humility, degraded his expressions to […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Apr 20, 2016
This article was published on StickyMinds – “Hidden Parts of the Performance Equation”, April, 2016. The Performance Equation Many teams decide to put together a “test bed” of servers and network infrastructure, develop some scripts simulating user requests, run the whole thing against the application, and see if they can satisfy the business requirements. And […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Mar 22, 2016
Tweet back! Twitter is a great tool to collect and share information. But retrieving it is a bit tricky. From time to time I go over my tweets archive and grab useful pieces into my notebook and mindmaps, categorizing the information. But why can’t I share it back? – came a thought one day. So […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Mar 01, 2016
This story has been featured in my article published by Tea-time with Testers – Year 5 Issue XI, December – January 2016. Download a free copy. Do you see a problem? With the login form represented by the image? There are a few, actually, but we can’t know for sure because it’s just an image, we have […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Feb 24, 2016
This story has been featured in my article published by Tea-time with Testers – Year 5 Issue XI, December – January 2016. Download a free copy. Do you see a problem? With the image? Maybe you don’t. You know, people who can’t see still can use the software, browse the Web, and work with electronic documents. […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jan 26, 2016
This story was featured in my article published on StickyMinds – “The Politics of Accessibility Testing”, January, 2016. Preface Digital accessibility refers to software supported by users’ assistive technologies as well as accessibility within web browsers. This concept, that software should be usable by the widest possible audience, has been around for more than twenty […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jan 18, 2016
This story was featured in my article published on StickyMinds – “The Politics of Accessibility Testing”, January, 2016. Preface Digital accessibility refers to software supported by users’ assistive technologies as well as accessibility within web browsers. This concept, that software should be usable by the widest possible audience, has been around for more than twenty […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jan 14, 2016
This story was featured in my article published on StickyMinds – “The Politics of Accessibility Testing”, January, 2016. Preface Digital accessibility refers to software supported by users’ assistive technologies as well as accessibility within web browsers. This concept, that software should be usable by the widest possible audience, has been around for more than twenty […] ...
Posted by Albert Gareev on Jan 08, 2016
Some people say it’s okay to have “just a job” and no passion. Some have their jobs paying for their passions. And some.. well.. Let me be direct. What I greatly admire about Rosie Sherry is her passion to ignite passion in others. Rosie founded Software Testing Club – and it is growing successfully year […] ...
