News
News
- March 18, 2016
18 Mar'16
Experiencing Uber from the inside out
Tom Hughes-Croucher stood before a standing-room-only crowd and explained how he and his team keep Uber running. Or, as he put it, “how we avoid screwing up the world’s largest Javascript project.” ...
- March 17, 2016
17 Mar'16
Drunk user testing changed HubSpot's approach to UX research
Giving a drunken UI designer a user test changed HubSpot's UX research and UI design practices. The results were stunning, said UX designer Austin Knight at the Fluent Conference.
- March 04, 2016
04 Mar'16
Onboarding process is efficient for microservices engineer
SolarCity software engineer Kate Jefferson calls on teamwork and onboarding to improve microservices projects.
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- March 03, 2016
03 Mar'16
How does your job -- and your paycheck -- compare?
What matters most to you? A big paycheck? A job that is going to make the world better? Or an environment that’s not particularly stressful? Apparently you do have a choice. According to a brand ...
- February 29, 2016
29 Feb'16
Is a hard-driving developer boot camp right for you?
Want to become a coder or brush up on your skills? With a shortage of developers, now is a good time. Here's what you need to know about developer boot camp.
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Sponsored News
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How to build an agile support team
Sponsored by Zendesk - With the world changing at lightning speed, agile support teams are finding ways to quickly adapt to the changing needs of their customers and their agents. See More
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Agility starts with self-service
Sponsored by Zendesk - Agile companies are pouring resources into online health centers, and with good reason. Anticipating and answering your customers’ most common questions helps to tame spiking tickets when teams are inundated or when staffing levels are low. More than 60 percent of agile companies (those who have kept resolution times stable, despite a surge in tickets) in our Zendesk Benchmark dataset have added new articles in recent months, while 15 percent have increased their staffing to ensure that content reflects the changing needs of their customer base. See More
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Prioritizing fast responses with live channels
Sponsored by Zendesk - There’s no magic formula for agility. What works for your team (and your customers!), may not work for everyone else. But for teams that have continued to respond to customers just as quickly as they did before the pandemic, one clear strategy has emerged: agile companies are prioritizing speed above all else. And they’re using live channels to do so. See More
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Customers are turning to messaging. Why aren’t agile companies doing the same?
Sponsored by Zendesk - If 2020 had a breakout star, messaging would be it. Usage of channels like WhatsApp and SMS (text) has grown faster than any other this year. And increasingly, customers are signaling that they want the convenience and familiarity of channels they already use in their personal lives. See More
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- February 26, 2016
26 Feb'16
Advocating IT diversity drives software engineer's career
Software engineer February Keeney talks about her passion for promoting IT diversity. She shares hiring advice and her experiences in software engineering and project management.
- February 22, 2016
22 Feb'16
Job security and a big paycheck? Get security experience
Developers are in short supply all around but those with security experience are particularly in need. Here's how you can move your career in a new direction.
- February 04, 2016
04 Feb'16
A new Super Bowl survey shows app performance matters
Finally, there's a Super Bowl survey developers should care about. It turns out we'll be using our mobile and Web apps a lot during the big game, so performance matters.
- January 31, 2016
31 Jan'16
The mob programming mindset
Woody Zuill is careful to say he did not "invent" mob programming. But the career programmer turned consultant certainly played a big role in at least codifying the ideas behind mob programming. ...
- January 28, 2016
28 Jan'16
Glassdoor ranks best jobs in 2016, tech positions fill list
Technology and health jobs dominated Glassdoor's list of the best jobs in America for 2016. But which occupation was crowned the winner?
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- January 18, 2016
18 Jan'16
Testers, get ready...the IoT is about to make your life even harder
In the midst of all the IoT hype, Claire Rowland is a well-timed reality check. A London-based UX consultant specializing in the IoT space, Rowland is enthusiastic about the opportunities. But ...
- January 07, 2016
07 Jan'16
2016, design and the bottom line
Maybe it's where I'm sitting but this feels like a time of great change in the software design and test arenas. Designers are in short supply, everywhere, but at the same time companies are looking ...
- December 17, 2015
17 Dec'15
2015 reasons to be looking forward to 2016
Perhaps 2015 reasons is a bit of a stretch. In any case, as we wrap up this year, it's interesting to look at where we've been and what we've all been interested in. It is certainly no surprise ...
- December 07, 2015
07 Dec'15
Time to share an Hour of Code
With all the talk about the ongoing worldwide software developer shortage, it's encouraging to see the grass roots efforts by the non-profit Code.org to bring coding to everyone. In fact, the group ...
- December 01, 2015
01 Dec'15
An inside look at software developer pay in 2015
TechTarget's 2015 salary survey shows developers are mostly optimistic, content and challenged by new technology. Find out why software developer pay could stand to be increased.
- 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.
- August 16, 2013
16 Aug'13
Agile 2013: Scientists reveal software testing trends
At Agile 2013, academic scientists unveiled new healthcare regulatory compliance software testing trends.
- 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 24, 2013
24 Jan'13
DevOps definition: Best explained by what it's not
What's the best way to come up with an accurate DevOps definition? Explain what it's not, application development experts say.
- 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 ...
- July 18, 2011
18 Jul'11
Agile Alliance 2011 conference news
The Agile Alliance 2011 conference hosted an array of experts. Learn about Agile development, exploratory testing, Scrum and software testing with Q&As and videos from the speakers.
- 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.
- March 02, 2009
02 Mar'09
How Covad made the switch to a distributed agile development process
Waterfall methodologies weren't working for Covad Communications, so the company switched its process to agile and cut costs while achieving faster project completions.
- February 18, 2009
18 Feb'09
Can traditional project management and agile development coexist?
Are traditional project managers and agile practitioners fundamentally at odds? Or can they live together and even complement each other?
- February 10, 2009
10 Feb'09
How teams transition to agile development methodologies
Organizations usually move to agile development methods for the same reasons -- scope creep, time to market -- but details of the transition can vary from team to team.
- 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.