Striving for Zero Bugs(On the Test Environment)

Kevin HarrisNewVoiceMedia

IntroductionSo - why are we here..?

What’s so wrong about Raising Bugs?Raising Bugs is a faff and is a huge

waste of time, and I’m too old and bitter to spend an hour at a time recreating bugs and filling in forms which no one wants to read.

The Proposal:

We are now at a stage where it should be possible to either prevent or find all bugs* before the code actually gets to the Test Environment.

* Well, nearly all…

Step 1: The Kick Off (1)

REQUIREMENT OVER SOLUTION Make sure you understand the requirement

before anyone starts discussing a solution. Use a version of Business Driven

Development or Specification By Example to ensure that you’re concentrating primarily on the actual requirement (and not on the solution).

Step 2: The Kick Off (2)

SMALL STORIES Make sure that your stories are as small as

you can make them (but still big enough to be worthwhile).

The ideal story has only a single moving part – test that, then test the next moving part in the next story.

Think about how you slice bigger stories.

Step 3: The Kick Off (3)

ASK, ASK, ASK Be prepared! Don’t be afraid to ask questions. That’s your job

in the Kick Off. Keep asking until you have all the information

that you need to test the story – don’t wait until you get the code delivered.

What about security, performance, usability, etc?

Step 4: The Kick Off (4)

TELL, TELL, TELL What you’re going to test. How you’re going to test. What tools you’re going to use. What areas you’re going to regression test. Don’t keep information back for when you

start testing…

Step 5: The Kick Off (and beyond)

TEST AUTOMATION What automated tests are going in, and at

what level? Review them often, and suggest more. Ensure your acceptance criteria are

automated. Watch the tests run.

Step 6: Development (1)

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH DEV Check in with the Developers at least every

day. Get demos whenever there is something

worth demoing. Pair with the Developer for longer periods

where possible.

Step 7: Development (2)

TEST ON THE DEV MACHINE Physically pair with the Developer to test on

the Dev machine. Arrange access to test on their VM remotely.

Step 8: The Hand Over

IT’S NOT JUST A HAND OVER! Get a final demo on the Developer’s

machine. Discuss any areas of risk Review the acceptance criteria one last time. Review the automated tests one last time.

Step 9: In General

EVERYBODY TESTS Ensure Developers are confident testing. Let Developers test other stories (pairs and solo). Teach the Developers testing techniques. Pair test with Developers. Get developers to talk you through how they

tested their code.

Step 10: The Test Environment

WHEN YOU DO FIND A BUG Don’t celebrate finding bugs! Examine why you didn’t prevent the bug, or

find it earlier. Have a 5-Whys for every bug you find on the

Test Environment.

Benefits:

Cleaner Code.Quicker cycle time.Functionality sooner.Cheaper.Can consider losing an

environment.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

A Couple of things… Won’t be able to pick up all deployment

errors. Won’t pick up environmental issues. Change in behaviour required for some

people!

Thank You.