Testing in the Dark - Ben Simo

Talk Description

Software testing fulfills two often-conflicting purposes: to confirm existing understanding and to seek out new knowledge. Testing includes demonstrating that software can work and seeking out cases in which it may not work as desired.

Searching for new knowledge in software systems is similar to scientific research in the natural world. Both require observation of and experimentation within complex systems in hopes of discovering something new. Both require feeling around in the dark in search of things that may not even be there.

Although feeling around in the dark may appear to be haphazard to outsiders (and even some insiders), it is a cognitively complex activity that requires skill and a prepared mind. Join Ben as he shares principles and techniques from William I.B. Beveridge’s classic book The Art of Scientific Investigation, and applies them to the dark side of testing -- the investigative side.

Learn to see testing in a new light -- a light in the darkness. Take away an appreciation for your most powerful testing tool – your mind.

By the end of this session, you'll be able to: