TestBash Spring 2023

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

Meet & Greet with TestGear!

Description

Real code, live demo. Get into the nitty-gritty of using tests to drive out code! Ever had difficulty writing tests? Don’t know how to identify the unit under test? Find it hard to write tests BEFORE implementation? Join us as we take you on a journey through multilayer outside-in BDD

You have a great idea for a web app but you have no idea how it’s all going to fit together. Learn how to drive your design from the business level interactions that a user might make, right through to the smallest units of the domain with multi-layer outside-in behavioural driven design (BDD).

This talk is a hands-on style tutorial which will enable developers to get started on their projects or improve the testing strategies within their own organisations. We’re going to run through building a simple web app written with a Rails API and React frontend and tested using RSpec, Capybara, Selenium webdriver, and Jest.

The multi-layer, outside in BDD development style is based on many years and companies worth of refinement to the techniques from the perspectives of two developers who came from polar opposite backgrounds - One with over 20 years of commercial experience and a vast background in TDD, and one relatively new to software.

Participants will be taken through the various layers:

“Lifecycle Flow” is the outermost layer of this BDD approach and follows along a flow of activity between 1 or more actors, usually driving a browser along many screens of a web style applications leading to one of a number of possible flow-on effects. These flows usually represent a business process.
“Page/Component Mechanics” are tests still run from a browser but focusing on a particular page or component on a number of places within the app and exercise specific behaviours that may come about from various states the application may find itself in.
“Frontend Component Tests” are used to test the usually javascript frontend framework implementation of the web page implementation. They allow for faster unit-level testing of the various states the frontend can be in.
“External Integration Tests” are a boundary that is fulfilled with a mock at most other layers of testing. This layer is performed separately to better control the effect of third-party services.
“API Acceptance Tests” define a boundary of the backend system and are an integration test of the backend unit as a whole.
“Controller Unit Tests” are written as unit tests as opposed to more standard RSpec integration tests. This is due to the API acceptance being a better place to drive out the integration and means tests at this layer would only change with API changes.
“Domain Concept Tests” often a number of model classes in rails represent a join domain concept and it is worth testing their interaction.
“Domain Unit Tests” are mostly done against the grain of RSpec and are unit tests and not integrated with the DB.

For each of these layers, a summary will be given:

how to define the unit under test and why
the kind of things that should and should not be tested and could break under this level
example test code

Learning Outcomes

What Unit is under test
What to test at which level
Which failures are expected to happen where
A code repository with all these concepts

Speakers

Michael Milewski

Senior Developer - Zepto

Michael Milewskil is a developer keen on the people side of things. He loves pairing, and in particular with people new to writing software. He especially likes driving software out with tests and directing the evolution of the design. In his spare time he does a bit of paddle boarding, camping and watching any one of his 4 kids excel above anything he ever managed to achieve.

Selena Small

Team Lead and Senior Developer

Selena is a full-stack lead engineer at Fresho in Melbourne Australia who is particularly passionate about TDD. As a self-taught coder with a background in management, she is well-equipped to mentor others. In her spare time, she is a nak muay ying, professional kickboxer.

Infrastructure Testing Strategy

What

Session

Description

Curious about who is behind TestGear?

Meet the team with an ice-breaker to start off the day!

Leaders, experts, and marketers will be ready for introductions and some teasers on what’s to come!

Mohammad Siddiqui

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

#infrastructure

#quality

How (Not) to Measure Quality

Description

Testing of Infrastructure, which comprises of the test environment where we perform testing, is often ignored. Instability in test environment results in unexpected delays in testing and incorrect configuration can lead to replication of issues into production.

The talk explores what infrastructure testing means and why it is important. With the ongoing progress with cloud resources like AWS, ensuring the correct test environment and as such, ensuring proper infrastructure is in place with no issues, is of paramount importance.

But what would the testing of infrastructure look like?

How would it become part of our test strategy?

Why do we often overlook it? Do we cover it in our testing in any capacity?

When would we be running the tests?

Can this activity be automated?

All these questions will be addressed and explored in this talk.

Learning Outcomes

What is infrastructure testing and how this can improve testing goals
Why infrastructure issues needs to be addressed and their impact on testing overall

Speaker

Mohammad Siddiqui

Senior QA manager

I have a passion for learning and exploring the world of software quality and the technologies involved. I believe a good software quality strategy can direct how software needs to be developed and delivered, to meet customer objectives. I am currently a Senior Software QA manager at Barclays, with oversight of Integration, functional, performance, security or pen testing, UAT and operational acceptance testing. I enjoy giving talks on various topics in technology. In the past, I have covered talks on Machine Learning, End to end testing, Tools selection, Test frameworks etc and hope to cover more in future.

Michael Kutz

Public Reveal of Dragonfly Release with TestGear

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

#communication

#quality

Description

PO: “Hey folks, we need to add this new feature as fast as possible! It will bring that revenue boost we need.”

Devs: “But we need time to refactor the code!”

Testers: “And to test it properly!”

PO: “Hm… how much?”

Devs: “Uhm… 3 weeks?”

Testers: “Rather 4!”

“OK, I'll give you 2. See you then.”

Sounds familiar?

I had a lot of similar discussions in my career. I think they are a symptom of a deeper problem. Implementing a feature can be measured: it is there. Quality is much harder to measure. How much quality do we need anyway? What for? Which metrics truly tell us the quality and which are not?

Different stakeholders have very different qualities in mind. Product people and users care about outer quality, developers are concerned with inner quality aspects, and finally managers care most about process quality. These three qualities need very different sets of metrics.

Another problem is that some commomly used metrics are only proxies for the imformation that we need. E.g. code coverage tells us which lines of code get executed during a test, but sometimes we confuse this with how well the code is tested.

In this talk, I share some general motivations for measuring quality. I review various commonly used metrics that claim to measure quality. Based on my experience, I rate them regarding how they may be helpful or harmful to achieve actual goals and which side effects are to be expected. I give some examples how the weaknesses of one metric might be countered by another one to create a beneficial system.

Learning Outcomes

Identify different approaches on how (not) to measure quality
Assess commonly used quality metrics against different purposes
Be aware of possible side effects of measurements
Understand how metrics can be combined to even out each other's weaknesses

Speaker

Michael Kutz

Quality Engineer/Ambassador

I've been working in professional software development for more than 10 years now. I love to write working software and I hate fixing bugs. Hence I developed a strong focus on test automation, continuous delivery/deployment and agile principals. Since 2014 I work at digital as a software engineer and since 2018 as quality engineer. As such my main objective is to support our development teams in QA and test automation to empower them to write awesome bug-free software fast.

What

Session

Description

Our long-awaited release is happening live as an Avant-premiere to the TestBash community!

Discover the all-new UI, different modules, and why it’s such an exciting game changer – and shoot your questions to our solution expert!

Tester Meets CI System

Tobias Geyer

Test Management Evolution: Collaboration and the End of QA Friction

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

#technical-testing

#continuous-integration

Description

What happens if a curious tester meets a Continuous Integration (CI) system and decides to take care of it? Is that even possible for someone who isn’t “technical”?

When I started my current job I didn’t know the domain, I didn’t know the product but I did know about testing and feedback loops. Since I wanted to provide value to the team right away I began to improve the things I knew. Analyzing the feedback loop turned my attention to our CI system.

In this talk I’ll look back on the past eight years and report my experiences on how I made a positive impact on the CI system. The audience will learn which possible changes in our CI system I could do myself, which ones I needed to collaborate on with others and which changes turned out to be mistakes.

Stories from my experience:

- Asking “do we need this all the time” resulted in a hugely improved feedback time

- Not running all tests all the time turned out to be a good idea

- Migrating our build system from legacy technology (Apache Ant) to modern technology (Gradle) was a team effort and worth it

- Enforcing code coverage metrics was a mistake and resulted in unexpected problems

I will explain how typical skills of a tester can be applied in more areas than just the product the users see. These skills include asking critical questions, measuring, observing and the willingness to improve things.

In the end I will explain how all of that happened without me becoming a bottleneck in a new area.

Learning Outcomes

Achieve great testing results by looking beyond the product under test
Understand how to provide impulses for your team and make impactful suggestions even if you can’t implement the changes yourself
Discover practical examples how a CI System does benefit from a tester looking into it

Speaker

Tobias Geyer

Tester

Tobias Geyer is a tester by profession and bug magnet by nature. He worked in big companies with waterfall processes and small agile teams. He co-founded and ran the “Software Testing User Group Hamburg” until he moved to the other end of Germany. Together with his great team he won the “NRG Global test competition” in 2014 and was a judge in the first Software Testing World Cup.

Tony Grabs

Talk

What

Talk

Topics

#collaboration

#quality

#testing-tools

Description

Different QA teams and Devs across the SDLC industry have been separated for long enough. Siloed and using different tools and channels, they end up burning time and energy to align. It’s time to stop onboarding your QA talent as if you’re taking them to the zoo.

Tony from TestGear will show you how you can bring together the whole team with transparency, collaboration, and engagement.

Reach QA synergy with a tool that provides you with unmatched flexibility and clarity, and empower your team for better, faster releases.

Learning Outcomes

Why transparency is key in QA for SDLC
How gamifying your tools can add a layer of motivation and excellence
How dissolving QA silos can save 50% of your team's time
How to be part of the evolution with TestGear
First public launch of our completely new UI with the “Dragonfly” release

Speaker

Tony Grabs

Senior Solution Expert

Meet Tony. TestGear's very own solutions expert, QA specialist, and product wizard. Specialized in product trainings, he has the ability show you almost any scenario for using the platform. Tony's work also covers market analysis, as well as collecting feedback from users and the QA/QC community, making him a walking goldmine of data and information. Tony is an all-around player, experienced analyst, and business developer with a global vision in mind. His unwavering confidence to find an effective solution to reach goals is based on hard data and quantitative information, which helps founders and C-suits take optimal decisions and rapidly grow businesses worldwide.

Live Q&A with Tony Grabs from TestGear

Tony Grabs

Q&A

What

Q&A

Description

Straight after Tony's talk on the main stage, you'll be able to join this session and ask Tony anything about his talk, work experience or his work at TestGear.

Speaker

Tony Grabs

Senior Solution Expert

Skills and Strategies for New Test Managers

Laveena Ramchandani

Ask Me Anything

What

Ask Me Anything

Topics

#influence

#leadership

Description

Which skills and strategies are needed to be successful in Test/QA Leadership?

How can we create a culture that values feedback?

How to grow and retain your team in these uncertain economic times?

During this session, these and more questions will be answered live by Laveena Ramchandani.

Laveena will share her own experiences and of those with varying backgrounds, and offer actionable guidance to those aiming to become, or just starting to work as a Test Manager or Lead.

Learning Outcomes

Tools and techniques: how to choose what’s best for your team
Being a people manager
Giving and receiving feedback
Working smart
Traits to cultivate

Speaker

Laveena Ramchandani

Test Manager - Data science & Digital @ EasyJet

I am a vibrant, motivated and committed individual. I have been in the testing industry now for over 7 years. It's been a great experience learning and sharing skills. I aim to broaden my knowledge further more. Data science is what I am currently focusing on, and it's very exciting to see all the new things one could learn out of it and merge it with testing. Definitely quite interesting!

Tighten Your Test Automation Feedback Loop

Rowland Hill

Talk

What

Talk

Topics

#data

Description

Finding and fixing bugs is a headache even for mature DevOps teams. Between filing a defect, gathering diagnostics data, and finding the root cause, teams are struggling to speed up mean time to resolution.

Join this session to learn how mabl can empower your teams to create a tight feedback loop that helps you find and resolve defects faster.

Learning Outcomes

Achieve comprehensive test coverage with UI, API, and accessibility tests
Find defects earlier by giving developers the power to run tests quickly in their workstation and integrating to the CI pipeline
Accelerate defect resolution by including comprehensive diagnostics data and the ability to rerun tests easily

Speaker

Rowland Hill

Technical Account Manager

I am a Technical Account Manager (TAM) at mabl, the enterprise SaaS leader of intelligent test automation software for high-velocity development teams

Live Q&A with Rowland Hill from mabl

Rowland Hill

Q&A

What

Q&A

Description

Straight after Rowland's talk on the main stage, he will join a live Q&A session to answer all your questions.

Speaker

Rowland Hill

Technical Account Manager

I am a Technical Account Manager (TAM) at mabl, the enterprise SaaS leader of intelligent test automation software for high-velocity development teams

The TestGear Pub Quiz Competition - Win Team Licenses or TestGear Merch!

Game

What

Game

Description

3 rounds of trivia questions, exciting questions, and unexpected twists.

If you’re feeling competitive and you’re in for some mid-day fun, join us and get the chance to win team licenses or TestGear merch!

Let's Test the Pokemon API with REST and GraphQL

Mirza Sisic, Ioan Solderea

Become a TestGear Brand Ambassador

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

#api-automation

Description

This will be a joint session where two friends will use the Pokemon public API to compare REST and GraphQL API testing.

It is intended for testers who had some experience/familiarity with REST APIs and are looking to get started with GraphQL testing.

And have fun with Pokemons!

Learning Outcomes

Evaluate the differences between REST and GraphQL
Understand the pros and cons of these two, from a testing perspective
Apply your knowledge of testing REST APIs while testing GraphQL

Speakers

Mirza Sisic

Testing Consultant

Mirza has always been a technology geek, helping friends and family with computer-related issues. Started originally in tech support and moved to software testing and has been there since. Worked as a freelance web developer for a while as well. A casual RPG gamer and a Sci-fi fan. When he’s not sharing memes online Mirza is usually learning new things, taking part in the testing community, or writing posts for his blog.

Ioan Solderea

Lead QA

I am one of those people who want to know all about all but will also be happy knowing a lot about a lot. Because of this I choose to be a tester since you get to learn always new technologies, you get to test in the most diverse areas and it is always fun to tell people you found a bug.

Harness the Power of Debugging!

What

Session

Description

Are you a content creator?

Influencer or micro-influencer?

Vocal tester?

Or a QA expert with a passion for networking and growing communities?

We’re building 2-way value-based relationships and growing fast!

Join our ambassador programs and start earning perks and gifts as you grow along with our team ❤️

Kiruthika Ganesan

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

#bugs

Discussion: How AI Can Impact Our Testing Roles

#debug

#problem-solving

Description

This talk is a reflection on how debugging has changed my life and empowered me to navigate the various challenges in my career.

I started debugging as part of analysing bugs, then used it to understand and read code. Later got involved in writing automated checks which in turn gave me the tools to expand my testing and look at software implementations with a different perspective. Following the positive results, I have tried to employ the same routine on other problem areas. From my experiences, I have found that one could debug a production issue to do root cause analysis, debug a process to identify gaps, debug an idea/problem to understand the scope, debug an initiative to explore the possibilities and many more.

The whole journey takes a different turn when done alone, when done with someone or a group, when different tools and techniques are used. It is interesting to see how the different phases of debugging change with respect to the context too. In the talk, I would like to share my debugging routine for technical and people problems and go over the similarities and differences.

I feel like critical thinking and curiosity can accelerate the journey and reduce the iterations needed to find the solution or reach the destination. There is also a caveat of overdoing it and stepping into the overthinking mode which becomes a vicious circle from which one can't escape. So, some tips from my end to identify patterns and proceed with caution while debugging.

Learning Outcomes

This session will warm people to the idea of usual software debugging if they are new to it. Give them some useful resources on how to get started and employ it in their daily work. They could try the techniques alone or with their team even on a remote set up
Next would be to encourage people to try the same debugging techniques with a small twist on other problem areas outside of the codebase. Debugging is an important transferable skill one can leverage when making the leap to a leadership role from that of a solo contributor
Finally some tips to identify patterns and not to overdo it

Speaker

Kiruthika Ganesan

Head of Quality Assurance

I am someone who is passionate about testing and approaches testing with a holistic view. I have over 17 years of experience in the IT industry, working as a tester, developer and a trainer. I believe in the power of people and collaborating to build a safe environment where the teams can thrive and work on creating great software. I enjoy teaching and getting involved in community activities like speaking at conferences, delivering workshops. I am one of the tutors in the Coders Guild and a core member of Synapse QA-a testing community. Also, a keen advocate of Women in Tech initiatives and a global ambassador! When I am not working, I love spending time with my kids and enjoy writing short stories.

Tariq King, Daniel Knott, Nicola Martin

Panel Discussion

What

Panel Discussion

Topics

#ai-artificial-intelligence

#ethics

#impact

#machine-learning

Description

In this session, our host Jenna Charlton will be joined by three experienced professionals with buckets of knowledge about AI in testing.

We will look to find out how the use of AI can assist your testing and its impact and ethics on testing.

Nicola Martin, from London, UK, is the Head of Quality Engineering at a UK-based AI software company. Nicola is a speaker and panellist at global events on diversity, women in tech, quality, AI, software testing and mentorship.
Daniel Knott lives in Hamburg, Germany and a Head of Product Quality Engineering, a Book Author, a Blogger, YouTuber and Speaker and a Software Testing Trainer. Daniel loves digital products with high quality being it web or native mobile applications.
Tariq King, from sunny Miami, USA, is a recognised thought leader in software engineering, DevOps, testing and AI/ML with over fifteen years of professional experience in the software industry.

Speakers

Tariq King

VP and Managing Principal Consultant

Tariq King is the Vice President of Product-Service Systems at EPAM, where he manages a portfolio that lies at the intersection of software products and services, and supports the business through technology consulting. Tariq has over 15 years' experience in software engineering and testing and has formerly held positions as Chief Scientist, Head of Quality, Director of Quality Engineering, Manager of Software Engineering and Test Architect. Tariq holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from Florida International University, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Florida Tech. His areas of research are software testing, artificial intelligence, autonomic and cloud computing, model-driven engineering, and computer science education. He has published over 40 research articles in peer-reviewed IEEE and ACM journals, conferences, and workshops, and has been an international keynote speaker at leading software conferences in industry and academia.

Daniel Knott

Head of Software Testing

Daniel loves digital products with high quality being it web or native mobile applications. Currently, he is working as Head of Software Testing at MaibornWolff in Germany, where he shapes the future of testing for his clients. In the past 13 years, he worked as Lead Software Test Engineer for different native mobile apps and products. Daniel wrote two books - Hands-On Mobile App Testing and Smartwatch App Testing and is a frequent blogger at www.adventuresinqa.com and conference speaker. Since 2022 he also created his YouTube Channel about Software Testing.

Nicola Martin

Head of Quality Engineering

Nicola is currently Head of Quality Engineering at Adarga, a UK-based AI software company. Nicola is passionate about increasing diversity and inclusion in software engineering. She mentors and coaches professionals wanting to either change or develop their careers. Nicola is a Council Member for the British Computer Society. She is also a professional member of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES). Nicola is a speaker and panellist at global events on diversity, women in tech, quality, AI, software testing and mentorship. Nicola has been included in the 2022 Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech List top 30. She has also been a judge for the UK Tech Awards and will be part of the judging panel for the Black Tech Achievement Awards in 2023.

Dragonfly – Beta Easter Egg Challenge with TestGear (€1000 value gift & more)

ADHD and Me: How Neurodivergence Boosts my Testing

What

Session

Description

You know the drill. New releases come with their own quirks and challenges.

We’ve hidden some easter eggs, bugs, and defects for you to find, collect, report, and send our way for some cool rewards from the TestGear team!

Karen Tests Stuff

AMA with the TestGear Team

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

#mental-health

#neurodivergence

#growth

Description

Hi there - *wave* - I’m neurodivergent! That means my brain works in, let’s just say…interesting ways…compared to what some people would call baseline or average. Don’t get me started on how weird the idea of NORMAL is…we’ll be here all day.

Brains are weird, neat, squishy things. Mine has been diagnosed with conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and depression, with a list of common behaviors that hold hands with them. To some people, this might sound like terrible news. But, I have a different take on my particular collection of mental conditions. To me, they’re my Super Powers!

When looking at the challenges that we face as testers, I want to present you with some examples of how neurodivergence can be harnessed to work for you - instead of against you. Come listen to these stories of how these super powers help boost my curiosity, empathy, and effectiveness. You may just learn something about your own brain along the way.

Learning Outcomes

ADHD inspires in me a curiosity to dig below the surface
Anxiety helps me to empathize with user experience
Depression/manic cycles train me to use my energy wisely, at the right time

Speaker

Karen Tests Stuff

Content Creator/Associate QA Analyst

Hello, world! I fell in love with software testing in December 2020, and never looked back. I am passionate about advocacy in the software testing world, for people and the craft. I want to bring people together and educate them about opportunities to support and build with one another. Let's do this thing, together!

Ask Me Anything

What

Ask Me Anything

Description

AMA with the people behind the TestGear brand and product.

This is your time to find out whatever you want to know and learn from the community and the team.

See you as we wrap up the day!

Prioritizing Your Tests by Considering Impact and Value!

Larissa Rosochansky, Rafael Navarro Cintra

What

Talk + Q&A

Topics

#automation

#risks