Software Testing: A Profession of Paradoxes?

Summary:

Our already fairly regulated "profession" seems to harbor some remarkable irregularities that lie implied in its very nature. Several paradoxes and catch-22s can be found throughout different domains of software testing. The affected areas: test execution, usability testing, test report data, test team, test organization, test automation. With this paper I aim to give an overview of the testing paradoxes that challenge us all--and give the reader some food for thought in the process.

About the author

Zeger van Hese

With a background in commercial engineering and cultural science, Zeger Van Hese started his professional career in the motion picture industry, switching to IT in 1999. A year later he was bitten by the software testing bug and has never been cured. A test manager at CTG Belgium, Zeger has a passion for exploratory testing, testing in agile projects, and, above all, continuous learning from different perspectives. He considers himself a lifelong student of the software testing craft. He is the program chair of Eurostar 2012 in Amsterdam and co-founder of the Dutch Exploratory Workshop on Testing (DEWT). Zeger muses about testing on his Test Side Story blog, is co-author of CTG’s STBoX Agile flavor, and regularly speaks at conferences worldwide.