CAST 2016

Have you ever studied testing? Too few testers, so it seems, have read a book on testing or its underlying principles. Even fewer have studied testing by deliberately observing evaluating it directly and systematically.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an autopsy is an “examination to discover the cause of death or the extent of disease”, ultimately derived from the Greek work “autoptes”, meaning “eyewitness”. Doctors perform autopsies to learn about the human body and to discover how things might have gone wrong. A testopsy—to use a word coined by James Bach—is an examination of testing work, performed by watching a testing session in action and evaluating it with the goal of sharpening observation and analysis of testing work. Testopsies can help in training, assessment, and developing testing skill for novices and experienced testers alike.

In this one-day workshop, led by Michael Bolton, participants will learn from each other by preparing and performing a series of testopsies. The process begins with creating a coding system, mapping out the activities that testers perform and the skills and tactics they apply. Using the coding system to guide observation, participants will watch each other as they test software, record what happens, and then discuss the activity and refine the coding system. Join us as we dissect our testing!