Richard Bradshaw
Twitter: @FriendlyTester
LinkedIn: friendlytester
Website: MinistryOf Testing
Blog: thefriendlytester
Session Preview
Richard Bradshaw is an experienced tester, consultant and generally a friendly guy. He shares his passion for testing through consulting, training and public speaking on topics related to testing. He's a fan of automation that supports testing. With over 10 years' testing experience, he has a lot of insights into the world of testing and software development. Richard is a very active member of the testing community and is currently the FriendlyBoss at the Ministry of Testing. Richard blogs at https://thefriendlytester.co.uk and tweets as @FriendlyTester. He is also the creator of the YouTube channel, Whiteboard Testing. He can often be found in the bar, with a beer in hand, discussing testing.
Session - Don't Be S.C.A.R.E.D of Automated Checks
Jan 08 1-1:55PM
Automation is a vast topic and requires a whole host of skills to get value from. Yet as an industry the only one we seem to focus on is the ability to code. This has perplexed me for a while, so recently I starting thinking about the anatomy of an automated check. Which in turn led to me thinking about the skills required for each component. The result of this thinking is S.C.A.R.E.D.
SCARED is a mnemonic to aid with the design and implementation of automated checks. SCARED is a powerful mnemonic that encourages all the team to get involved in the design of our automated checks. It sheds light on the important components that lead to reliable and valuable automation. Code is important, knowing tools is important but not as important as the non-coding skills such as modelling, system knowledge, critical thinking and communications. Those amongst many others we’ll discuss are all required for successful use of automation in the context of testing.
So, I encourage you to not be scared of automation and join me for this session. Together we will explore automated checking and discuss how the most important part in automation may very well not be the ability to code, so perhaps we start to value and appreciate these other skills, and more importantly, those people who already have them.
Takeaways:-
+ Recognize and elaborate on all the skills required to succeed with automation
+ Describe the anatomy of an automated check
+ An appreciation that sending everyone to code school is not the answer to improve testing
