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Thursday, January 11, 2001 |
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The presentation is for anyone interested in automation techniques. It will also delve into "How do we know what we are testing, when we test?"
| Time: | Place: |
| 3:15 - 3:30 PM - Registration 3:30 - 5:00 PM - General Meeting |
Ridgedale Library Map & Directions |
The problems of using recording as your only test automation strategy are well known. But the other option, full script programming is unattractive to many companies due to its high cost, and relatively long development time.
There is a strategy that incorporates the best of both worlds that we call Defensive Programming. By starting with a pre-programmed script template, recording the specific test case using any automation tool, and then doing some simple post-processing transforms, you can easily build a robust and effective suite of automated tests.
Why defensive programming? If your automation effort has gotten farther than 5 scripts, you already know the reasons. Synchronization problems, fault tolerance, data handling, logging, scalability and more: all of these prevent you from enjoying the automation experience which you thought you were buying. Defensive programming allows you to leverage your automation tool with some relatively simple implementation techniques to create robust test suites.
Jamie L. Mitchell is a Senior Test Automation Consultant at BenchmarkQA. in Minneapolis, MN. He is a contributing editor and columnist for "The Journal of Software Test Professionals." He previously was a Senior Consultant at CornerStone Consulting, and the Lead Automation Engineer for Distributed Integration Testing / Global for American Express Technologies Organization. He has long been involved in test automation as automator, designer, architect, and mentor. He has worked in test automation since the first automation tools were released in Windows 3.0, including stints with Prudential Insurance, IBM AS/400 division, and ShowCase Corporation. He earned the Master of Computer Science degree in 1992 from Lehigh University and is a QAI Certified Software Test Engineer. He resides in Farmington, MN, and is an active member of the Twin Cities Quality Assurance Association.