The Latest

After almost twenty-five years as a professor, Elaine Weyuker left academia for full-time work at AT&T. Here, she shares how industry and academia can both benefit from collaborating.

Before they started using T-VEC, David Statezni's group was manually creating and running requirements tests and separately creating and running code coverage tests. T-VEC's features allowed them to save time.

The success or failure of a downsized organization depends on the work force remaining after the storm. Before deciding to change jobs, survivors should carefully analyze their company's situation. Downsizing many be an indicator of poor economic peformance, or it may be just what the company needed in order to turn itself around. Employees who "weather the storm" may discover new opportunities for career advancement hidden among the ruins.

Patterns, as described by the architect and theorist Christopher Alexander and his colleagues over the last thirty-five years, are a way of describing problems and customizable solutions. Patterns became popular in the software development field, and they've been applied to testing. Here, Brian Marick explores patterns and problem solving.

In order to be effective, Testing must co-exist on a level playing field with Development and Project Management. It cannot be subservient to them. A test lead's authority on a project springs from his or her projected sense of self-confidence in the role, and the Power Loss Trap undermines this authority. Here are a few commonsense ways to protect yourself.

Technical Editor Esther Derby talks about how unconscious beliefs, filters, and maps influence the way we react to situations and the conclusions we reach.

Esther Derby recommends The Logic of Failure and The Thinking Manager's Toolbox. Both authors share the same goal: helping you be a better problem solver. They stress the importance of recognizing the situation you're in, choosing an appropriate problem-solving strategy, and having the right thinking tools.