As per my long fourth dimension programme finally I am starting a serial of "Interviewing a Testing Expert" posts on my blog. In this serial I would live interviewing some renowned software testers from closed to the globe. In this inauguratory post of this serial I am going to acquaint an interview amongst Alan Page from Microsoft, who was sort plenty to award me amongst this chance to interview him.Alan Page is i of Microsoft's foremost Test Architects together with currently chairs the examination grouping inward Microsoft's Engineering Excellence team. Among other things, Alan teaches testers how to live meliorate testers, together with he has designed together with teaches courses for Microsoft's most senior testers together with examination managers. Beyond teaching, Alan creates together with updates technical courses, working amongst examination teams across Microsoft to aid them arrive at their goals, together with writes on his blog together with elsewhere. He has been a tester for over fifteen years, together with has been at Microsoft since 1995. Here is what Alan has to say:
Debasis: What led you lot to move past times away a software tester? What was the top argue that attracted you lot to the acre of testing?
Alan: About fifteen years ago, I got a project at a companionship that made music software. I was hired for tech support, but on my foremost twenty-four hours at piece of work I flora out that I was also going to live a tester (as good equally the network administrator). I learned equally I went for a while, but don't intend I was actually figured out what a tester did until a few years later.
I dear work solving – I similar taking large open-ended questions (like "does this software work") together with figuring out how to pause it downwards together with respond it. I've also discovered that amongst testing, in that place is thence much to a greater extent than to acquire – it's a relatively novel project inward the solid soil of software, together with I intend there's a long means to move past times away to acquire it where it needs to be.
Debasis: Did you lot assay testing anything other than software earlier diving into software testing?
Alan: In a way, I examination everything. It seems that I'm e'er challenging together with questioning. My foremost project out of academy was a schoolhouse teacher. I taught band (mostly foremost band together with jazz band) for 4 years. Music together with didactics are both loves of mine (partially why I similar didactics thence much inward my electrical flow project at Microsoft). After teaching, I went to graduate schoolhouse to acquire a Masters score inward music composition. I used computers extensively both for writing my thesis (a Symphony), together with for supporting papers. This was 1992, thence I had to acquire a lot close computers precisely to maintain things working. When I graduated, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. For a while, I taught individual music lessons together with worked equally a bike messenger. I was thinking close getting dorsum into didactics when I came across a tech back upwards project at a companionship that made music software. I flora out on my foremost twenty-four hours that I was also a software tester (and network administrator). I idea that would live something fun to create for a while. fifteen years later, I'm notwithstanding doing it together with enjoying it to a greater extent than every day.
Debasis: Tell me five unknown/least-known facts close you.
Alan: I already told you lot a few of them higher upwards – that I direct hold a Masters score inward music composition, together with that my project previous to testing was equally a bike messenger, together with that earlier that I taught school. Here are some more:
1. I'm a fight of an oenophile. I direct hold a small-scale collection of close 175 bottles, but I'm getting some to a greater extent than storage thence I tin expand a bit.
2. My favorite instrumentalist is singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding. Bonus fact: Wes played a laid at my 40th birthday party!
3. I'm i of the rare Microsofties who grew upwards inward the shadow of Redmond. My household unit of measurement moved to the Seattle surface area when I was 3, together with other than college together with six mutual frigidity months inward Wisconsin, I've lived inward the Seattle surface area my entire life.
4. I verbalize a fight of Japanese together with French. Not coincidentally, those are 2 countries I'd dear to alive inward someday.
5. My foremost refer is Donald. I've gone past times my midpoint refer for my whole life.
Debasis: What was the hardest challenge you lot flora getting going equally a tester?
Alan: Funny equally it sounds, precisely knowing what to create was in all probability the hardest thing. Like many testers, my foremost exposure to testing was having a slice of software handed to me together with beingness told, "test this". Over time, nosotros testers construct upwards our toolbox of techniques, but a lot of us direct hold to start from scratch. I intend that fifty-fifty today that nosotros could live doing a lot to a greater extent than to aid novel testers sympathise their role together with mutual techniques, approaches, or patterns that tin live used inward dissimilar situations.
Debasis: Tell me close the most satisfying minute inward your testing career.
Alan: Depends on the Definition of "satisfied." One flush that comes to heed is a province of affairs many years ago, I was working amongst an exec who insisted that testing "owned" quality. I explained, equally you'd expect, that examination tin mensurate quality, but everyone had to direct hold a stake inward character inward lodge to acquire a character product. He sort of blew me off together with said, "fine – but when force comes to shove, examination is on the draw for quality". I know how to direct my battles, thence I continued to move past times away close my work. The satisfying minute happened several months twelvemonth later. This exec sent post service to all of his top flat managers + me maxim that he had a revelation together with finally got it - that development, testers together with computer program management – from management to front end draw workers all owned quality. It sure as shooting didn't solve all of our problems, but it was dainty to regard the mindset change.
Debasis: Tell me of whatever province of affairs when you lot had wished you lot were NOT a tester!
Alan: I can't intend of such a time!
Debasis: Has the profession (testing) ever affected your personal life?
Alan: Well, my married adult woman was a tester on the Windows 98 squad at Microsoft. We originally met inward 1997 or so, together with she afterward went on to piece of work for a vendor that made Japanese figurer software. We met i time again almost seven years agone (she was onsite at Microsoft), together with were married six years ago. She's notwithstanding a proficient tester, but stays at dwelling solid amongst our kids these days.
Debasis: What create you lot intend are the most essential skills that brand a bang-up tester?
Alan: Problem solving skills together with critical thinking skills are huge. You demand to live able to piece of work amongst ambiguity together with pause downwards a large work into solvable parts. You demand to direct hold a passion for learning together with live able to sympathise what you're testing from top to bottom when necessary. You demand the might to regard what you lot are testing from the 10,000 human foot stance equally good equally the micro flat depending on the province of affairs – thence utilization the best tool/approach for the given situation.
Although it's non a skill, you lot should never acquire to a phase where you lot experience similar you lot direct hold everything figured out. As presently equally you lot allow yourself move past times away stagnant, you're done. If you're non getting meliorate – together with actively working at getting meliorate at testing together with advancing the scientific discipline together with arts and crafts of testing, your value diminishes quickly.
Debasis: Tell me close the most fascinating põrnikas that you lot direct hold encountered inward your entire testing career.
Alan: They're all fascinating inward their ain way. When I was on the Windows 95 team, i of my responsibilities was testing networking functionality on Japanese systems. On Win9x (and xvi fight versions of DOS together with Windows), Japanese Kanji characters were 2 bytes long. The foremost byte was inward a specified arrive at Рindicating to whatever computer program (correctly) parsing the text that the side past times side graphic symbol was the 2nd one-half of a double-byte character, together with that the 2 characters should live considered to live i character. As you lot tin imagine, in that place were tons of problems flora testing these characters - everything from full general failures to cursors that could seem inward the midpoint of a graphic symbol (both of these scenarios beingness quite common). Also interesting was that the "trail byte" Рthe 2nd one-half of the graphic symbol could live a graphic symbol that normally couldn't live inward a file name. One such graphic symbol that was a valid trail byte was the 0x5C graphic symbol Рcommonly referred to equally the backslash ('\'). As you lot tin imagine, characters amongst this trail byte were prime number examination collateral for network testing. Among the bugs I discovered was one, where given the right circumstances, copying characters amongst this graphic symbol equally the lastly graphic symbol inward the filename to a Japanese Windows NT organisation caused the NT machine to crash. I recall reproducing it 4 or five times inward a row to brand sure it was actually happening. This was cool to me at the fourth dimension for 2 reasons. One was that crashing an NT machine was supposed to live difficult (I suppose it was). It was also fun to observe a p̵rnikas inward a transportation product. It was fixed shortly after, but I don't intend a client ever hitting this detail issue.
Debasis: How create you lot regard software testing equally a career, lets tell after a decade? What would live the biggest challenges for the acre together with what would live the biggest advancements?
Alan: Software is going to acquire to a greater extent than complex, piece at the same time, people are going to await to a greater extent than from it. If you lot intend dorsum 10 years, Windows 98 was transportation together with my parents were precisely getting closed to to buying their foremost computer. 10 years from now, software volition live accomplishing things nosotros exclusively dream of, together with it volition live running, making millions of decisions for us 24 hours a day. Software volition live share of everything from traffic lights to dwelling solid electronics together with command systems, cars grocery carts, books, phones…you refer it, together with all of these devices – running software that allows these systems to interact inward a rubber together with predictable manner. Furthermore, equally software moves off of the desktop together with into devices that nosotros interact with, our expectations volition move past times away up. It's distressing how we, equally figurer users, allow software to neglect past times creating workarounds or rebooting. We demand to acquire software to a indicate where nosotros precisely expect it to piece of work together with it does.
The large challenge is coming upwards amongst a means to brand sure nosotros blueprint character into the products inward the foremost house together with where bugs are the exception. Today, "finding bugs" is also easy. In the future, I desire to acquire to a phase where testers finding bugs is a rare trial that causes extreme occupation organisation rather than beingness an "everyday occurrence".
Debasis: What unmarried matter would you lot tell every newbie who is struggling inward the early on phase of edifice software testing career?
Alan: You can't ignore the fundamentals, but you lot demand to observe a means to residue theoretical noesis of testing amongst a practical, effective approach. I intend many testers bury themselves inward textbooks or courses on testing together with travail to apply what they've learned inward perchance inappropriate ways. Of course, many others discard the fundamentals completely together with rely primarily on guesswork to acquire the craft. Success inward testing, equally inward many careers, depends on balance. Learn the fundamentals, together with acquire where they create together with don't work. Experiment together with learn. Challenge yourself together with demo success.
Debasis: Is in that place anything else you lot would similar to say?
Alan: Thanks for giving me the chance to respond these questions. Feel complimentary to throw out answers that you lot may non similar :}
Honestly it was bang-up to know Alan meliorate via this interview. It made me realize that I had non known him plenty fifty-fifty after reading him for thence many years until this interview [and this explains why I direct hold NOT edited a unmarried discussion from his answers]. Once again, thank you lot a lot Alan for taking your fourth dimension together with honoring my readers together with me amongst this interview.
Happy Testing...