News

News

• November 30, 2015 30 Nov'15

  The average software developer salary is (mostly) going up

  Coding is a good living, but the average software developer salary can vary widely depending on which country developers are in and what specialty they have.

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  The evolution of the software developer

  It’s tempting to think of the worldwide software developer shortage as a chicken and egg problem. Is there too much demand? Are there too few people? It doesn’t matter which came first because of ...

• November 06, 2015 06 Nov'15

  Taking strides in the software developer shortage

  Learn about the software developer shortage and the efforts being made to expand training and staffing in the industry.

• October 28, 2015 28 Oct'15

  Testing what's appropriate

  It's a fine line between appropriate, and not. But in today's open society, how do you draw that line? After all, what is funny to one person is offensive to another. I was talking to our testing ...

• October 23, 2015 23 Oct'15

  Tips to build a collaborative software development team

  At JavaOne, GitHub's Matthew McCullough will explain why the future is collaborative software development. It's not just about the one rock star any more.

• October 20, 2015 20 Oct'15

  Hiring software developers? Find out what really works

  With a global software developer shortage predicted to get worse, hiring software developers has become very difficult. Get expert advice on what works.

• October 16, 2015 16 Oct'15

  Software developer skills for the future's dream programmer

  The hot software developer skills of the future might not involve as much coding as you think. Find out how you can be that in-demand dream developer.

• October 16, 2015 16 Oct'15

  Smart software developer training strategies

  A worldwide shortage of coders has left employers scrambling, but smart software developer training strategies can help fill the gap.

• September 15, 2015 15 Sep'15

  Today's software developer -- happy, self-reliant and maybe even female

  A brand new report from the Application Developers Alliance (and conducted by IDC) showcases some very encouraging news about the software development profession. A healthy 68% of today’s software ...

• September 02, 2015 02 Sep'15

  This mob might be the answer

  I've been talking to a lot of stressed out testers recently. These are people who take their profession seriously but don't always think anyone else does, particularly when they're told time and ...

• September 01, 2015 01 Sep'15

  CAST 2015 ends with great debate

  Matt Heusser offers a wrap-up of the CAST 2015 software testing conference, with a summary of several compelling keynote presentations.

• August 10, 2015 10 Aug'15

  It's a small world, right?

  In all of the Agile talk last week at Agile2015, there were lots of good, insightful observations, a ton of interesting, useful and actionable data and a few downright jaw-droppers. The ...

• August 06, 2015 06 Aug'15

  VersionOne surveys Agile development for 2015

  VersionOne's 9th annual survey shows that Agile development teams are more productive, projects are more visible and it's easier to roll with changes. Too bad corporate culture isn't always on Agile's side.

• August 06, 2015 06 Aug'15

  Improving Agile security starts with the user story

  At Agile2015, discussion turned to how a user story can offer a different approach to Agile security.

• August 05, 2015 05 Aug'15

  Keynote at Agile2015: Modify Agile to make it work

  The keynote at Agile2015 emphasized why companies should modify Agile based on needs, rather than following core values.

• August 03, 2015 03 Aug'15

  What to expect from Agile2015

  From large-scale Agile news to how science impacts Agile, presenters discuss the topics that will be included in Agile2015.

• July 30, 2015 30 Jul'15

  Navigating your way through Agile2015

  Is this your first time going to Agile2015? You’re not alone – it’s my first time too – but from what I understand this isn’t your mother’s tech conference. So I asked Agile consultant and author ...

• July 23, 2015 23 Jul'15

  Automated dinosaurs? Check. Automated testing? It depends.

  Have you heard about the brand new hotel in Japan that is staffed exclusively by robots? If you’re lucky (and English-speaking), you’ll be welcomed at the front desk by a robotic dinosaur. Japanese ...

• July 09, 2015 09 Jul'15

  It's all fun and games until someone gets caught in a recursive loop.

  The Boston Software Craftsmanship Meetup group met recently to play a couple of programming games. They were gracious enough to let me sit in as one of their own. The games were to demonstrate the ...

• June 26, 2015 26 Jun'15

  Containers, microservices, and DevOps, oh my… the big trends in enterprise open source

  Red Hat Summit / Dev Nation 2015 fell pretty well in line with the theme everything old is new again. The three main themes repeated again and again were containers, DevOps and microservices. I ...

• June 25, 2015 25 Jun'15

  Crashing an all-night hackathon

  For a journalist, an all-night hackathon can be a pretty intimidating undertaking. I was sure I'd be way over my head sitting with professional programmers as we built and programmed as Raspberry ...

• June 03, 2015 03 Jun'15

  Familiar landmarks on the roadmap from clipboards to tablets

  The folks behind Alpha Anywhere, including Alpha Software CTO Dan Bricklin, gathered a bunch of their users to focus on mobile application development and specifically on tablet applications ...

• April 30, 2015 30 Apr'15

  Big data analytics use cases over data science, says CEO

  Turning data into information depends on the context it's used in. It takes a new type of engineer to discover the right big data analytics use cases to pursue.

• April 27, 2015 27 Apr'15

  Data privacy lawyer explains 'data by design'

  Data privacy lawyer Jeff Kosseff discussed the current state of data privacy law as it applies to big data at the Big Data Tech Con in Boston.

• April 01, 2015 01 Apr'15

  Cloud infrastructure enables DevOps at YPG

  The Yellow Pages Group (YPG) in Canada grew out of traditional print publishing. Now, they're a major player in internet directory services across Canada. The transition wasn't easy. It took a ...

• March 31, 2015 31 Mar'15

  Lesbians Who Tech Summit: Not your usual IT conference

  IT pros told their career stories at the Lesbians Who Tech conference in San Francisco, which featured career advice, software project stories and calls for community service and diversity in IT.

• March 11, 2015 11 Mar'15

  Musings on the connection between Agile, Scrum and continuous delivery

  There's one big question at the heart of everything that good software project managers do. How do we develop software better? How do we improve the ways and means through which we develop ...

• March 02, 2015 02 Mar'15

  Cloud services director empowers development teams to work smarter

  One of the main tenets of Agile development is to empower the development team to make its own choices. This is really important because it helps the developers identify with their projects in a ...

• February 09, 2015 09 Feb'15

  DeveloperWeek 2015: Dev techies unite in San Francisco

  DeveloperWeek 2015 is one of the largest tech events in the country. Find out the latest news from the show.

• January 12, 2015 12 Jan'15

  Continuous development carries continuous improvement into 2015

  One year ago this Sunday, I predicted that the word for 2014 would be continuous – as in continuous development. I know it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but the word 'continuous' did seem to ...

• September 09, 2014 09 Sep'14

  Software testers petition to stop ISO 29119

  The proposed testing standards have met fierce opposition in the testing community, including a petition stop the ISO from moving forward.

• April 17, 2014 17 Apr'14

  QUEST 2014: News from the conference

  Quest 2014 in Baltimore is the annual software testing and quality assurance conference for all IT professionals.

• December 04, 2013 04 Dec'13

  Ancestry.com's top lessons learned from continuous software development

  In this photo story, Seng Lin Shee, senior software engineer at Ancestory.com, discusses the pros and cons of transitioning to continuous software development.

• October 25, 2013 25 Oct'13

  Why continuous testing is gaining ground, but not enough

  Dan Bartow, SOASTA's VP of product management, explains why continuous testing isn't practiced enough and what mobile testers should do about it.

• October 02, 2013 02 Oct'13

  What is IoT?

  The Internet of Things is the interconnectedness of things that access the cloud. Applications can control a wide variety of real-world appliances.

• September 27, 2013 27 Sep'13

  Which integration framework: Apache Camel, Spring Integration or Mule?

  Java expert Kai Wähner explains the importance of an integration framework and the differences between this approach and ESBs and integration suites.

• June 25, 2013 25 Jun'13

  The open source Cucumber BDD tool boosts acceptance test automation

  The Boston Java Meetup Group welcomed BDD guru Alan Parkinson, who explained the value of automating tests with Cucumber.

• May 17, 2013 17 May'13

  New skills for the QA tester: Scripting, security

  Software quality assurance is gaining respect as a profession -- but do QA testers have the scripting and security skills the role now requires?

• May 07, 2013 07 May'13

  Quality control plan: Zero in on error messages

  Keynotes at STAREAST 2013 discuss planning for quality control and getting a handle on error messages.

• April 03, 2013 03 Apr'13

  Mobile software lifecycle: The closer you look the more see

  Mobile testing isn't the only big change shaking up the software lifecycle. The mobile planning and coding stages are also undergoing major shifts.

• February 19, 2013 19 Feb'13

  Top ten mobile application threats to enterprise security

  Check out the top ten threats presented by enterprise mobile applications, according to the OWASP Mobile Security Project.

• February 13, 2013 13 Feb'13

  What is BYOD? Developers redefine the answer

  Ask mobile software developers 'What is BYOD?' and, along with the reply 'bring your own device,' they are quick to add 'but some restrictions apply.'

• January 16, 2013 16 Jan'13

  Code signing: Stamp of approval for Android and iOS apps

  Code signing aims to keep malicious code out of mobile apps by verifying where the code came from.

• November 26, 2012 26 Nov'12

  Give mobile application testing the priority it deserves

  Mobile application testing doesn't get the priority it deserves. Experts explain how to meet the challenges of testing.

• November 19, 2012 19 Nov'12

  Mobile embedded applications: Seven testing challenges

  Mobile embedded applications are vulnerable to attack and subject to compliance mandates, and require more robust testing practices than other apps.

• October 02, 2012 02 Oct'12

  Mobile device testing: Placing testers in the field, not just the lab

  Applications running on mobile devices pose new challenges for test professionals. In the near future, mobile device testing will take center stage.

• August 13, 2012 13 Aug'12

  Effective team communication strategies: Structured conversations, product partnerships

  Consultants provide insight into logical strategies that aid in team communication in Agile organizations that include structured conversations.

• August 13, 2012 13 Aug'12

  Applying Lean-Agile principles for successful enterprise agility

  How can Lean-Agile principles help guide teams in successfully adopting Agile in the enterprise? Alan Shalloway, founder and CEO of NetObjectives, is presenting "Scaling Agile with Multiple Teams: ...

• May 24, 2012 24 May'12

  Marrying Scrum methodology with XP and other advice from Agile expert Mitch Lacey

  Author and Agile expert Mitch Lacey discusses his new book, “The Scrum Field Guide - Practical Advice for Your First Year.” Lacey fields questions about mixing Scrum methodology, team size and types of projects that can benefit most from the use of ...

• May 11, 2012 11 May'12

  Can Scrum change the world?

  Read how Agile evangelist John Miller brought Scrum to a fourth grade classroom, teaching the students valuable lessons in teamwork, decision-making and managing work.

• March 08, 2012 08 Mar'12

  Metrics for measuring quality

  Recently, SSQ created a quality metrics guide which includes a series of articles, tips and stories related to measuring software quality. It's a complicated and controversial topic with no easy ...

• November 14, 2011 14 Nov'11

  Agile Manifesto interpretations: The importance of individuals and interactions

  Couched in terms of Agile development, Howard and Rogers explore the importance of strong leadership, communication, collaboration and teamwork using techniques such as self-directed teams and DISC analysis to understand communication styles in ...

• November 02, 2011 02 Nov'11

  Quality metrics: The economics of software quality

  In the first of a three-part interview with co-authors Capers Jones and Olivier Bonsignour, we are introduced to their new book, “The Economics of Software Quality.” They describe “structural quality” vs. “functional quality,” along with challenges ...

• August 10, 2011 10 Aug'11

  Behavior driven development (BDD) with Liz Keogh

  At the Agile Alliance 2011 conference in Salt Lake City, there are 268 sessions, so choosing which ones to attend has been a challenge. Behavior driven development (or BDD) is an area that I hadn't ...

• August 09, 2011 09 Aug'11

  Positive psychology on Agile teams

  Everyone, including Agile team members, can benefit from the power of positive thinking. The keynote speaker at this year’s Agile 2011 conference, Barbara Fredrickson, explained how positive psychology relates to success in Agile development, ...

• August 08, 2011 08 Aug'11

  Scaling factors for enterprise Agile with Scott Ambler

  Scott Ambler describes the Agile Scaling Model (ASM), a contextual framework that can be used to adopt and tailor Agile practices to meet challenges faced by delivery teams of any size.

• July 19, 2011 19 Jul'11

  Free performance test tool from SOASTA: CloudTest Lite

  Today SOASTA announced CloudTest Lite, a free, enterprise-class performance test tool for Web and mobile performance testing in the cloud. I spoke with SOASTA's CEO, Tom Lounibos, and the ...

• May 04, 2011 04 May'11

  James Bach on critical thinking: Huh? Really? So?

  I'm guessing James Bach has never been accused of being a "yes-man." The outspoken test guru, well-known for his intolerance of step-by-step test scripts, is at STAREAST 2011 and delivered a ...

• April 08, 2010 08 Apr'10

  A modern way of gathering requirements: Visualizations

  If a picture's worth a thousand words, a visualization's worth a thousand pictures. A "visualization" is a term used to describe a functional software prototype.  This form of rapid User Interface ...

• March 29, 2010 29 Mar'10

  James Whittaker on exploratory testing and scenario-based exploration

  Last fall I listened to James Whittaker talk about his book, "Exploratory Testing," at a virtual presentation hosted by uTest. I have since been able to read the book and follow-up with Whittaker ...

• March 03, 2010 03 Mar'10

  Real-world Agile: The advantage of Product Owner demos

  During a discussion about Scrum at the Boulder Agile User Group (BAUG) meeting recently, Paul Quarles of Oppenheimer Funds shared his experience as a  Product Owner demoing to the business in a ...

• February 22, 2010 22 Feb'10

  No silver bullets for software developers

  Matt Heusser challenges the idea that there are no silver bullets in software development, suggesting that new approaches to software delivery can actually change the essence of how the work is done, including examples for your team.

• February 12, 2010 12 Feb'10

  Methodology wars: Agile or waterfall?

  Lately, I've been talking with software testers and developers about software methodologies, and I've noticed the Agile vs. waterfall camps are very divided. Miss Manners will tell you to stay away ...

• December 15, 2009 15 Dec'09

  Automation Anywhere tackles automated testing

  Automation Anywhere, a provider of automation software solutions has entered the software testing market with its new offering, Test Anywhere. Test Anywhere uses SMART Web and object recorders to optimize and monitor software testing processes and ...

• December 07, 2009 07 Dec'09

  Excluding certain elements while recording JMeter tests

  In a recent article on JMeter, I related some tips for recording JMeter tests using the proxy recorder. Sometimes when you're recording tests, you want to exclude certain transactions like images, ...

• July 31, 2009 31 Jul'09

  Software testing blog digest: Bug, team woes; memes; Ford Motors

  If you don’t read software testing blogs, you’re missing some great advice and thoughtful ramblings on testing philosophies. I tap into those blogs daily, and here I’m sharing the wealth with this ...

• July 10, 2009 10 Jul'09

  Two experts: Why not to skip some software testing phases

  Is software testing really necessary? Do we do it just because everyone else does it? Why is software testing important? While ideas about testing vary, the motive is generally the same: someone ...

• May 21, 2009 21 May'09

  Why waterfall developers still shun Agile

  Jon Kern, co-author of the Agile Manifesto, told me recently that many companies won’t adopt the agile development methodology soon. Why? Some companies are doing just fine with waterfall, he said, ...

• March 18, 2009 18 Mar'09

  The challenges of test-driven development (TDD)

  Out of all agile practices, many organizations struggle the most with adoption of test-driven development (TDD) -- but that doesn't mean they're giving up on the challenge.

• December 15, 2008 15 Dec'08

  How to be an Agile project manager

  In this Q&A, Michele Sliger, consultant and co-author of 'The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility,' talks about the role of project managers in an Agile environment.

• November 07, 2008 07 Nov'08

  Software testing is an activity, not a phase or a department

  Treating testing as a phase rather than something that should be done continuously throughout software development is a recipe for defective software, says Kevlin Henney.

• October 30, 2008 30 Oct'08

  Overcoming SOA testing challenges

  This special report takes a look at the challenges of testing SOA applications, as well as blind spots to be aware of. It also provides tips on how to test SOA applications.

• October 01, 2008 01 Oct'08

  How Google developed the Chrome Web browser

  Google's Darin Fisher, a software engineer on the Chrome project, talks about how the Web browser was developed and tested. As you might suspect, agility, speed, and testing were all critical.

• July 25, 2008 25 Jul'08

  Why code quality matters

  Poor code quality is a disaster waiting to happen. For example, making changes to bad code can result in broken code. Kevlin Henney explains the importance of catching problems in code at the source so that they don't manifest into large problems ...

• July 23, 2008 23 Jul'08

  Software testing triage: Parallels in labor triage

  Software testers often use triage to determine which steps to take in the testing process. Rob and Anne Sabourin explained to an audience at the Conference of the Association of Software Testing (CAST) how lessons from labor triage can be applied to...

• June 25, 2008 25 Jun'08

  Strong quality assurance process adds value to SDLC, ITIL

  The quality assurance (QA) department needs to be involved with software and Infrastructure changes to ensure the functionality, security, and performance.

• May 07, 2008 07 May'08

  Dynamic analysis tool from Coverity looks at concurrency defects

  Concurrent programs loom as a major developer and tester challenge as multicore processors grow in use. A dynamic analysis tool for Java from Coverity may automatically detect multithreading deadlocks and race conditions, while incurring low ...

• April 11, 2008 11 Apr'08

  Software requirements sign-off essential for solid QA

  Not properly signing off on a software project's requirements limits the quality assurance (QA) team's ability to ensure that the software does as it's intended.

• March 07, 2008 07 Mar'08

  Six functional tests to ensure software quality

  According to a recent Info-Tech report, six types of functional tests can be used to ensure the quality of the end product. Those tests are unit tests, functional tests, systems tests, regression tests, system integration tests and acceptance tests.

• March 05, 2008 05 Mar'08

  The user acceptance testing (UAT) team is your ally

  When offshore testers partner with the client's user acceptance testing (UAT) team, they can be better assured that the business's needs are met and that bugs are found early.

• February 21, 2008 21 Feb'08

  AccuRev software configuration management tool links to IBM's ClearCase

  Software configuration management tool AccuRev 4.6 for ClearCase allows for collaborative development between groups using ClearCase and AccuRev via bi-directional synchronization.

• February 06, 2008 06 Feb'08

  Improving problem resolution through automation

  A Forrester study found that problem resolution is inefficient at most organizations. By automating the process companies can solve problems faster and cut costs, Doug Laney says.

• December 17, 2007 17 Dec'07

  Static code analyzer tests for dangerous race conditions

  The Coverty Prevent SQS static code analyzer helps developers identify race conditions and other concurrency defects in multi-threaded applications earlier in the development cycle.

• December 03, 2007 03 Dec'07

  Iterative and incremental development explained

  The terms iteration and increment are often used interchangeably. The problem is, however, they don't mean the same thing. Kevlin Henney explains the differences, as well as how to use iterative development to improve your development process and ...

• November 01, 2007 01 Nov'07

  From use case diagrams to context diagrams

  It's tempting to consider use case diagrams as context diagrams because they do show context. But having one diagram for both will result in an unreadable cloud of bubbles.

• October 29, 2007 29 Oct'07

  When good projects turn bad

  On any software project, you need take the time to work things out upfront so you don't have fires to put out when the application is released.

• October 08, 2007 08 Oct'07

  The importance of testing software requirements

  Bypassing requirements testing can lead to software that doesn't do what users expected, costly software changes and often project failure.

• September 24, 2007 24 Sep'07

  The pros and cons of use case diagrams

  Putting too much into a use case diagram can often render the otherwise useful technique of use cases almost useless. Kevlin Henney recommends a more balanced and restrained approach in order to not lose readers in a myriad of bubbles and ...

• August 16, 2007 16 Aug'07

  How poor management skills jeopardize software quality

  Software quality suffers when IT managers poorly communicate with their team and make decisions based on their own self-serving interests.

• August 01, 2007 01 Aug'07

  Six Sigma makes inroads in software development organizations

  While still early in the adoption curve, software development and IT groups are finding Six Sigma, often combined with other process improvement efforts such as Lean and CMMI, helps to reduce defects and improve quality.

• July 25, 2007 25 Jul'07

  Unit testing critical for improving software quality

  By doing unit testing, programmers can catch bugs early before they cause significant problems or delays. It's important, however, that programmers feel comfortable testing and not be scared off by extreme testing practices. Alberto Savoia explains ...

• July 23, 2007 23 Jul'07

  The challenge of performance testing SOA applications

  Software testing and QA groups already pushed to the limit face even more challenges with SOA applications. Automation through modeling can help monitor and test such applications.

• July 18, 2007 18 Jul'07

  How to document use cases

  Ideally use cases capture the functional requirements of a system in terms of identifiable and testable goals. The trick is writing and documenting them so that they offer value not just for requirements gathering but also for software design and ...

• June 25, 2007 25 Jun'07

  How continuous integration improves software quality

  Paul Duvall, co-author of a new book on continuous integration, discusses how CI has evolved and how it can improve software quality. He also offers some tips for development teams on how to do CI.

• June 04, 2007 04 Jun'07

  ALM 2.0: Application lifecycle management changing to meet development organizations' needs

  The changing face of application lifecycle management (ALM) has application development organizations looking to tools and technologies that help them collaborate across functional silos, work across large geographic distances and work more ...

• May 21, 2007 21 May'07

  Alistair Cockburn on what's agile, what's not

  Alistair Cockburn, a signatory on The Manifesto for Agile Software Development, talks about the agile landscape, what has changed and where his methodology, Crystal, fits in.

• April 18, 2007 18 Apr'07

  Benefits of Hyper Agile software development

  AccuRev founder and CTO Damon Poole has developed a methodology he calls Hyper Agile. Recently he talked with SearchSoftwareQuality.com about the benefits of Hyper Agile, how it differs from other agile methodologies and how it helped in the ...

• March 21, 2007 21 Mar'07

  Effective prototyping for quality software

  The authors of "Effective Prototyping for Software Makers" discuss the benefits of prototyping, how anyone can create a helpful prototype, and how the software development process is affected by the use of prototypes.

• February 20, 2007 20 Feb'07

  Find software bugs, defects using code coverage

  Software testing is uselss if it isn't complete. Statement and branch coverage can uncover glaring problems in unexecuted blocks of code, but they often miss bugs in the logic of your code. Path coverage, however, is a more comprehensive technique ...

• August 29, 2006 29 Aug'06

  Hacme Casino tool reveals online gaming vulnerabilities

  Foundstone's Hacme Casino shows some of the threats online gaming applications face and helps developers see how these issues may be present in their own code.