Past Presentations
You can find an extensive list of presentations and courses that I've taught, including the slides and speaker notes for many of them, here.
Coming up—let's meet!
Check out my schedule, and drop me a line if you'd like to get together when things change and I'm in your part of the world—or if you'd like to meet online. If you'd like me to work with you and it doesn't look like I'm available, remember that my clients' schedules are subject to change, so mine is too. Finally, note that some conferences offer discounts—and even if they don't advertise it, maybe we can work something out.
June 26, 2020
Online
I'll be having a virtual fireside chat with Ajay Balamurugadas at TribalQonf, an online conference organized by The Test Tribe in India. You can check out the full program here, and register here.
June 29-July 2, 2020
Online
SOLD OUT!
Rapid Software Testing Explored goes online! I'll be presenting this class live via Zoom teleconferencing, during daytime hours people in Europe and the UK (and very early risers in North America). Read an overview of the class here; dive into the details here; and register here.
July 14-July 17, 2020
Online
This session of Rapid Software Testing Explored is being presented in the daytime for people in North America, or in the evening for people in Europe and the UK. James Bach will be leading the class, and I'll be co-presenting live via Zoom teleconferencing. See an overview of the class here; get into the details here; and register here.
July 29-July 31, 2020
Online
Another Rapid Software Testing Applied with James Bach leading the class, while I help out. We learn Rapid Software Testing by applying it to a project that is in or near release. The class will happen during daytime hours for people in North America, and in the evening in Europe and the UK. Read an overview of the class here; dive into the details here; and register here.
August 12-August 14, 2020
Online
Now it's time for Rapid Software Testing Managed to go online! James Bach will be leading the class, and I'll be co-presenting live via Zoom teleconferencing. Hours are optimized for North American daytimes, and evenings in Europe and in the UK. An overview of the class here; details here; and registration here.
September 15-18, 2020
Online
Time for another online Rapid Software Testing Explored! I'll be presenting this class live via Zoom teleconferencing, during daytime hours people in Europe and the UK (and very early risers in North America). Read an overview of the class here; dive into the details here; and register here.
September 23-25, 2020
Online
Rapid Software Testing Applied with James Bach leading the class while I help out. As usual, we learn Rapid Software Testing by applying it to a project that has already been shipped or that is close to it. The class will happen during daytime hours for people in North America, and in the evening in Europe and the UK. Read an overview of the class here; dive into the details here; and register here.
Test case is a noun, test is a verb.
Test case is the means, test is the objective.
A test case is a recipe used by the tester(chef) to test(cook).
Test case is the script; tester is the actor; test is an act.
A tester can test without a test script.
The most important of all three is the tester, as the test is as good as the tester.
[…] post was triggered by thoughts following on from a Michael Bolton tweet and blog post making analogies to explain that test cases are not […]
[…] The Test Case is Not the Test […]
Absolutly right! … and nobody wrote in test case: “Now you should galumphing for 1 hour to find some bugs” 🙂
Exactly. And likewise, “How many recipes do you have” doesn’t tell us anything about your cooking skill.
It’s a sacrilege to say something against them or be placed in a different light. Somehow this emphasis on test cases is encouraged by tools also, for example TFS. It seems that some pseudo-managers are won over by the simplicity of this management, meaning testing by just counting test cases.
[…] • ?????????-???????????: test case – ??? ?? ????. […]
[…] • ?????????-???????????: test case – ??? ?? ????. […]
[…] of steps (and because of that it can’t be done by a machine – more about that later). A test case is not a test. At best, it is a test guide or idea. There is no way a “test case” could ever be […]
Absolutely right! … and nobody wrote in test case: “Now you should galumphing for 1 hour to find some bugs”
Michael replies: Yes. It would be a good idea to do that (although it might be helpful to be clear on what “galumphing” means; so here’s a reference).
In my view, a Test Case is the unit of measurement of the effectiveness of a Test. Segregating a Test into Test Cases can help us determine the Test Coverage. A Test tends to be generic whereas a Test Case is specific.
Michael replies: People might think that way, but I can’t agree.
With repsect to your first sentence: if a test case is a unit of measurement, what is the scale for the unit? Is a test of six steps and three evaluations to be counted the same way as a test of 24 steps and one evaluation? Before you answer, notice that “step” and “evaluation” suffer from the same scaling problem: is moving the mouse and clicking the button one step or two? Is selecting a check box a step? If it is, is typing a single keystroke in a field a step? Is typing 16 keystrokes into a credit card field a single step? Does that step include pressing Tab to go to the next field, or is pressing Tab a new step? What if the test case is composed simply of a set of data values—inputs and outputs—with no steps specified at all? For something to be a unit of measurement, you need a model such that units are commensurable. That’s hard enough to do when you leave out the cognitive aspects of the test, but how are you going to claim a “unit” when you add in the tacit stuff&mash;that is, what we’re observing and learning that is not explicit; the stuff at the very heart of the test.
That’s a problem with treating a test case as a unit of measurement at all; even as a unit of effort. But there’s a deeper problem: there’s no intrinsic link that I can see that makes a test case a unit of measure of effectiveness. That seems like a pretty wild leap.
With respect to your second and third sentences: I’d say there are other, more specific ways to describe our testing and our coverage. I agree that describing our coverage is important, but I don’t think you’re talking about test cases here in the way that most people talk about them. In Rapid Software Testing, we think of a test condition as “something that could be examined in a test, or that could influence the outcome of a test”. It seems to me that a test case covers many conditions—and here again some are explicit and some are tacit; some anticipated, and some only recognized after the fact. To the degree that you’re talking about conditions, rather than cases, I would find it easier to agree with you.
“PowerPoint slides is not a conference talk” smile words 🙂
[…] https://www.developsense.com/blog/2017/02/the-test-case-is-not-the-test/ […]
[…] Michael Bolton “The Test Case Is Not The Test” https://www.developsense.com/blog/2017/02/the-test-case-is-not-the-test/ […]