Podcast Episodes

“Schools of Testing”: Useful Paradigm or Negative Influence? Are there really four different “schools of testing”? Do you have to belong to one? Or are there just different testing strategies, to be selected and blended as appropriate? Has the concept of “schools of testing” promoted clearer thinking about testing, or has this concept actually created a useless schism, sowing conflict and slowing growth of the profession? In this debate, Rex Black argued the negative side of the case, being one of the leading critics of the concept of “schools of testing.” One the other side, you’ll hear one of the originators of the concept, Cem Kaner, argue for its benefits. Love it or hate it, you can hear both sides and make up your own mind.

Free tools are great, because they are always in budget, right? Well, not always, because your time is valuable. You can waste a lot of time if you misuse free tools. However, with commercial tool vendors pounding down your doors, trying to convince you to buy their gee-whiz test tool (often with a gee-whiz price tag to match), you might forget to look at the open-source test tool options available to you. In this talk, drawn from three decades of industry experience including recent consulting work with many clients, Rex will provide some case studies—and the lessons we can learn from them—in successful use of free tools. He’ll also give some cautionary tales of free tool usage gone astray.