September has been all about Germany and Manchester TestBashes, to say it's been a busy month would be an understatement! As always, we've plenty of content to share. - don't forget you can contribute to Ministry of Testing by becoming a writer.
The Club
A few selected discussions from The Club that we thought you might find interesting.
- Google Killing URLs, what does it mean for testing? posted by rosie. Google wants to kill the URL, what will this mean for your projects?
- Live Blog: Culture is Often Framed by What You DON’T Say, Not Necessarily by What You Do Say – Ash Coleman posted by alex_schl. Alex fantastically summarised Ash Colemans recent talk at TestBash Germany where Ash spoke about culture in ourselves, in our space and also in TestBash.
- When to hire a/more testers posted by watchful_tester. What kind of dev to test ratios do you work with and how do you determine when to hire more testers?
- "What are the pro’s and con’s of writing an API test automation framework at code level as opposed to using a tool" (https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-writing-an-api-test-automation-framework-at-code-level-as-opposed-to-using-a-tool/18232) posted by tilston1001. Why should you write an automation framework at code level, as opposed to using a tool like Postman or SoapUI and utilising what they have to create a framework?
- What Test Metrics do you use to measure test the quality of the system and productivity? posted by bonnie. Before we look at test metrics, it is important to consider what we want to achieve from the metrics.
- Useful real-world APIs to test against posted by tilston1001. A great collection of replies for anyone looking to practice API testing.
The Club Ninja
Each month we select one of our Club users to be our Ninja of the Month. Our Club Ninja this month is Alex Schladebeck!
The Dojo
All 26 TestBash talks from Germany and Manchester will be on The Dojo very soon but here’s the new content waiting for you on The Dojo, this month:
- A couple of Testers’ Island Discs podcasts with Neil Studd:
- Testers' Island Discs Ep23 - Elizabeth Zagroba - We kick-off a bumper month of episodes with a visit to the island by Elizabeth Zagroba, to talk about the ideas behind her upcoming presentation at TestBash Germany, entitled "Doubt Builds Trust". Among the discussions, there are debates about the challenges of saying "I don't know", stories about exploring doubt within interview situations, and thoughts about the relationship between doubt and curiosity. Plus, Neil finally finds a way for his frequent screw-ups to reinforce a salient point!
- Testers' Island Discs Ep24 - Kim Knup - We continue our run of interviews with upcoming TestBash speakers by chatting to Brighton-based Kim Knup, who will be presenting at TestBash San Francisco about the challenges of testing voice-activated devices, as well as being Lead Designer for next year's TestBash Brighton. Along the way, we also talk about Kim's involvement in the many facets of Brighton's testing scene, and her passion for usability. There's music from Germany, the UK and USA (including two of Neil's favourite karaoke tracks), and if you've got an Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri-compatible device, you might want to mute it for the second half of this episode.
- A new articles from the Testing Planet 2018 - React & Pancakes: A Practical Overview Of React For Software Testers by James Espie. In a lot of organizations, software testing is a much more collaborative function than it used to be. The “DevOps” approach, or “shifting left”, requires more time spent paired up with developers. This is a good thing. It means testers and developers are working together to build better software, faster. To collaborate effectively, it helps if testers know the basics of and keep up-to-date with any changes in relevant technologies their developers are using.
- Another MoT podcast from the Super Testing Bros - Working With Pen Testers With Brendan Seerup
- An interesting Testing Ask Me Anything with Amy Newton on How to Recruit a Tester. Amy is very involved in the software testing community as a recruiter, she helps run testing events locally and to raise the profile of software testing. Amy answered many questions covering multiple aspects of recruitment. This can help you find the right software tester to join your team, or to find the right job for you as a tester.
October Online Events
Testing Ask Me Anything - Reliability Engineering - Jordan Brennan - 9th October, 8pm UK Time
Reliability engineering is one that came from Google a few years ago. As software engineers moved towards the DevOps culture, so should we as Performance Testers or Performance engineers. Some potential questions you can ask Jordan Brennan once you're registered:
- What else should I be doing other than performance tests?
- What is your favourite performance test tool?
Masterclass - A Software Tester's Guide to Expertise - Vera Gehlen-Baum 23rd October, 8pm UK Time
Many people often doubt that they have enough talent to do a specific job or even become an expert in their field. They think that it needs a certain pre-position to become an expert. But what is the definition of an expert and how does one really get to be one? Is an expert in automation automatically also an expert in exploratory testing? And why is it important anyway?
Future Events
Just a quick sneak peek at what events are coming up in the next few months
- TestBash Australia - 19th October 2018
- TestBash San Francisco - 8th - 9th November 2018
- TestBash Essentials Brighton - 3rd April 2019
- TestBash Brighton - 5th April 2019
- TestBash Netherlands - 23rd - 24th May 2019
