Software Process Improvement Network
(A-SPIN)
Introducing Test Automation (Lessons Learned So Far),
by Lorraine Bier, Senior Quality Engineer, Crossroads
Overview:
Many organizations, especially small startups, struggle with the transition to automated test... often putting it off for tomorrow... which sometimes never comes. The challenge of comprehensive test through manual methods though is formidable... There is ongoing difficulty with: poor repeatability; limited test coverage; expensive resources and knowledge intensive test effort; and so on.
This presentation will discuss actual experiences in a startup environment moving from rigorous manual testing to solid test automation. Areas covered will include planning and tradeoffs, test design, tool usage and selection, deployment, and configuration management. A large part of the presentation will be oriented toward lessons learned along the way, leaving the listeners will solid ideas that can be applied in their own workplace.
About the Speaker:
Lorraine Bier, Senior Quality Engineer, has been developing and refining engineering processes for Crossroads since 2000. Starting her career as a Navy systems software developer, she became active in process development from responding to DoD STDs 2167A and 480A then to the ‘new’ Capability Maturity Model (version 1!). Lorraine has worked with Sematech during her stint in the semiconductor industry, and was briefly caught in the dot com madness. She has spoken to the ASPIN in 1997 on Requirements Traceability, delivered a talk on Configuration Management to the PSQT ’99 conference, and is a co-author of the paper “Clone Detection Using Abstract Syntax Trees”, 1998.