Articles

Where Are the Testers in XP?

With Extreme Programming, programmers are taking responsibility for writing their own unit tests. What work does this leave for testers? Some people think that XP saves costs by eliminating the need for testers. Does programmer testing really take the place of tester testing? In this column, Bret Pettichord offers ways for testers to provide value to XP teams.
Bret Pettichord's picture Bret Pettichord
January 20, 2003
XP, Iterative Development, and the Testing Community

A recent StickyMinds column criticized the new Agile development methods as bad for business. The column generated many reader comments, and prompted this response from industry veteran Cem Kaner. Read on for his defense of iterative approaches.
Cem Kaner
October 18, 2002
But I Don't Have Time!

Overworked software professionals sometimes skip things they know they should do, because they "don't have time." In this week's column, Karl Wiegers asks you to think about what you really mean when you say you don't have time, and he cautions you to take time to make time.
Karl E. Wiegers
July 25, 2002
How to Make Risk Conversations More Effective

Project managers may be reluctant, even unwilling, to discuss problems that testers discover in a project. In this column, management expert Johanna Rothman gives tips on how best to tell management that "the sky is falling," and how to respond if they don't want to hear about potential problems before they occur.
Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman
May 22, 2002
Can You Negotiate Quality?

XP teams have the right to do their best work. On the other hand, customers have the right to specify and pay for only the quality they need. How does one reconcile two potentially conflicting points of view? Is quality negotiable? If so, how do we go about negotiating it? This paper will explore the following questions: Is quality negotiable? How can we negotiate quality? What are internal and external quality, and are either or both negotiable? What's the XP tester's quality assurance role? How far should testers go in helping the customer define acceptance criteria?
Lisa Crispin's picture Lisa Crispin
December 6, 2001
Did You Hear What I Said?

Software projects are complex endeavors that rely on clear communication for success. If communication methods are mismatched or leave too many gaps, your project could suffer, and you could be highly frustrated. In this column, Karl Wiegers details potential problems to be mindful of, and strategies to use, when communicating about a project.
Karl E. Wiegers
November 27, 2001
License to Hack

Is your organization doing Extreme Programming or one of the other agile methods? Are they considering it? Before you jump on the latest methodology bandwagon, you should make sure you're not just giving your developers a license to hack. Karl Wiegers provides some insight into how agile development models can be misused and how you can ensure that your process improvement effort has the best chance to be effective.
Karl E. Wiegers
September 19, 2001

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