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Better Software Magazine Articles

Developing Your Skills as a Tester

Jack Cook explores reasons for testers to gain development knowledge and experience. Expanding your knowledge into the arena of software development will not only enhance your testing skills, it will improve your marketability both inside and outside your company. Knowing that you can work intelligently with developers can be very rewarding to your career and your self-esteem, and it will help you enjoy your work experience even more.

Jack Cook
Perspectives from a New Software Tester

Pam Hardy's goal in this article is to relay her experience as a new tester, in the hope that some of her perspectives will help other new testers navigate the waters of their new vocation.

Pam Hardy
What Are You Worth?

Jerry Evans reports on Software Testing and QA compensation issues. He also provides a list of some of the best job sites on the Web for testers.

Jerry W. Evans, CSTE's picture Jerry W. Evans, CSTE
Time Management and the Art of Software

Tried and true techniques for getting a grip on priorities and schedules can mean the difference between breaking your neck to get a passable software product out the door and emerging from a project with a quality product and a sane staff. Alyn Wambeke relays some software-specific time management suggestions.

Alyn Wambeke
Book Nook: A Book Review

Steve Whitchurch reviews the latest edition of Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister, describing it as a "must-read for all management wannabes, as well as those who are currently leading project teams and organizations."

Steve Whitchurch
All Valuable Products Are Risky to Build

Risks sound like disasters, but risks are neither bad nor good. They are only smart or stupid. Stupid risks are chances taken without significant gain if you succeed. Smart risks are ones that will pay off handsomely if you can overcome them. Smart risks are taken by folks who have knowingly made the decision to proceed in the face of risk.

Tim Lister's picture Tim Lister
Learning from Pathfinder's Bumpy Start

Steve March discusses problems experienced by the Mars Pathfinder. He imparts the following lessons: 1) design defensively in the face of complexity; 2) design defensively for post-shipment problems; and 3) beware of best cases.

Steve March
Techniques for Recruiting and Retaining Testers

Are you challenged with having to hire people when your budget is limited, time constraints are tight, and the testing effort is overwhelming? Many of us have faced these situations. In this article, Jack Cook shares some techniques that have proven effective in recruiting and retaining testers.

Jack Cook
Project Politics

Politics is often seen as a dirty business--but in the right hands it can be a way of bridging the gap between "I've got a great new project idea" and getting the right product into your customers' hands. Elizabeth Schmitz shares what she's learned about project politics.

Elizabeth Schmitz
Project Planning: It's in the Cards

Spend two days with an engineer named Eddie, and see how one skeptic learned the value of a low-tech, team-intensive, Cards-on-the-Wall planning technique.

Dwayne Phillips

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