In this episode of Developers Who Test, we meet Ashish Ghosh, Quality Assurance Architect at ING Bank. Ashish shares his journey from manual testing to leading ING's Quality Center of Excellence, emphasizing the critical shift from tool-centric approaches to fostering analytical and customer-focused mindsets.
From pivotal moments that transformed ING's approach to quality to the broader implications of poor-quality software—such as life-threatening incidents and massive financial losses— we discuss how organizations can rethink their strategies. We delve into the importance of leadership's role in prioritizing quality, the dangers of over-relying on automation without critical thinking, and practical steps businesses can take to build a "quality first" culture.
In this episode of the Developers Who Test podcast, we meet Dave Monk, a software tester at Apple, and learn about his journey into software testing, the importance of QA, and the challenges faced in the industry. The episode explores the courage required to build quality software, the need for consumers to demand better products, and the evolving role of testers in an AI-driven world.
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In this episode of the Developers Who Test podcast, Chris Harbert interviews Gabe Smith, a software quality assurance engineer at Teal Drones. They discuss Gabe's journey into quality assurance, the differences between developer and tester mindsets, and the unique challenges of testing physical devices like drones. Gabe shares insights on hardware failures, the importance of data analysis, and creative testing scenarios. The conversation also touches on the real-world consequences of poor quality and offers advice for aspiring SDETs looking to transition into the aviation sector.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Evan Niedojadlo, an engineering manager and product operations at Peddle, about his journey from test engineering to site reliability engineering. They discuss the role of site reliability engineering, the differences between big and small companies in terms of site reliability engineering, and how to test infrastructure. They also explore the reasons for switching testing frameworks and the challenges of transitioning to new frameworks. In this conversation, Evan Niedojadlo, an engineering manager at Peddle, discusses the transition from test engineering to being an SRE. They also talk about infrastructure testing, migration, and testing at different stages of the pipeline. Evan shares insights into the challenges and benefits of migrating to new tools and frameworks, as well as the importance of enabling teams to contribute to testing.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Christine Fletcher shares her journey from being a nurse to becoming a developer and then an SDET. She talks about her burnout in nursing and her desire to do something she's passionate about. Christine started learning HTML and CSS to build a website and eventually went through a bootcamp to become a UI/UX developer. She later transitioned into a QA lead role, where she focuses on both manual and automation testing. Christine discusses the challenges of balancing automation and manual testing in a fast-paced environment. She also shares her interest in project management and consulting for the future.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Adam Sandman, CEO of Inflectra, discusses the importance of risk in business and software development. He explains that while revenue and expenses can be predicted and controlled, risk is often unexpected and disruptive. He emphasizes the need for businesses to understand and measure the impact and probability of risks and take measures to protect against them. Adam also highlights the role of software testers in managing risk within an organization, stating that their job is to explore and present the risks to decision-makers so they can make informed decisions. The conversation also touches on the challenges of assessing risk accurately and the potential future of regulated software development. The conversation explores risk-based testing and its role in prioritizing tests and managing risk in software development. It discusses how to identify and prioritize risks, map them to user stories and tests, and use risk scores to determine the most critical tests. The conversation also touches on the impact of observability and rollbacks on risk management, the influence of architecture on risk, and the importance of communication and collaboration between testers and developers. The pragmatic approach to risk and testing based on experience is highlighted.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Interviews Lisa Crispin, co-author of Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams. Lisa advocates for a holistic testing approach and highlights the need for collaboration and diverse perspectives in testing. She also discusses the benefits of pair programming and ensemble programming in improving code quality and preventing bugs
Developers Who Test Podcast
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Scott Moore, VP of Engineering at Decision Lens, discusses the evolution of testing and test automation, the benefits of using Cucumber, and the role of test automation in the development process. He shares his experience transitioning from manual testing to test automation and explains how Cucumber has improved the maintainability and readability of their tests. Scott also highlights the importance of testing beyond the UI and the role of test automation developers in the organization. He offers career advice for test automation professionals and encourages them to automate repetitive tasks and explore new technologies.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Rik Marselis, a thought leader in the software testing industry and principal quality consultant at Sogeti Labs. Rick shares his journey into software testing, starting with his experience testing COBOL programs and his involvement in testing for the Y2K bug. They discuss the importance of foresight in software quality and the challenges of balancing agile development and quality goals. Rick also explains the value of certifications in the industry and the need for standardized terminology. They conclude by discussing the benefits of DevOps and cross-functional teams in improving software quality.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Matt Watson, the founder and CEO of FullScale, about the role of test automation in startups. Matt shares his experience of running a successful company without a dedicated QA team and emphasizes the importance of testing based on the context and importance of the software being developed. They discuss the evolution of automated QA tools, advancements in browser automation, and the balance between unit tests, integration tests, and UI tests. Matt also highlights the need for both proactive and reactive testing, as well as the challenges of getting developers to prioritize testing and monitoring production.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Ben Bischoff, a test automation engineer for Travago and the author of Writing API Tests with Karate. Ben shares his journey into test automation, starting as a developer and transitioning into test automation. He discusses the similarities between writing code for tests and writing code for applications, emphasizing the importance of testing the tests themselves. Ben also explains his approach to API testing, including exploring the API, using Karate for testing, and focusing on the most critical use cases. He highlights the challenges of testing third-party integrations, managing test data, and testing messaging queues and streaming data. Finally, Ben shares his experience writing a book on Karate and the support he received from his organization.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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James Sansbury, Director of Product for Tugboat QA, shares his journey into the QA space and the challenges of implementing automated testing. He emphasizes the importance of a testing culture and the need to think about testing in the early phases of a project. He also discusses the best placement of automated testing in the pipeline and the importance of making engineering decisions based on the context of the project. The conversation discusses the benefits of using preview environments for manual testing in B2B software development. It highlights the higher stakes in B2B software and the importance of catching issues early to save costs. The practice of asynchronous manual testing in preview environments is recommended to improve quality and agility. The concept of a 'dumpster fire demo day' is introduced, emphasizing the negative impact of last-minute issues on releases. The conversation concludes by emphasizing the value of distributing QA and stakeholder sign-off throughout the development process
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Natalia Petrovskaia, a QA engineering manager at Customer Times, about her journey into software testing and her transition into test management. Natalia shares her experience of finding fulfillment in influencing software quality and business decisions as a tester. She also discusses the importance of work-life balance and the need for rest even when you love your work. Natalia provides insights into becoming a test lead and emphasizes the value of being proactive and showing interest in the success of the project. The conversation also covers the trend of developers being involved in testing and the challenges of combining test automation with complex business solutions. Natalia shares her approach to testing complex systems with unknown requirements and the concept of shift left testing. The episode concludes with a discussion on involving testers in story grooming and the ideal team structure for successful software development projects.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode of the Developers Who Test podcast, host Chris Harbert interviews James Walker, co-founder of Curiosity Software. They discuss various topics related to test automation, including test data management, test modeling, and the importance of collaboration between developers and business users. James emphasizes the need for realistic test data and the challenges of replicating production data. He also highlights the benefits of using executable specifications and the value of sales skills in the software development industry. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the integration of development and testing and the importance of prioritizing quality in software development.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Igor Dorovskikh, founder and CEO of Engenious, about the challenges of mobile testing. Igor shares his career journey in mobile testing and highlights the importance of specialization in iOS and Android testing. He emphasizes the need for an analytics-driven approach to determine the testing approach and device segmentation. Igor also discusses the benefits of testathons and collaborative testing in improving the quality of mobile applications. He concludes by providing advice for developers looking to improve their mobile testing skills and convince their companies to invest in mobile testing.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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Anton Angelov, founder and CTO of Automate the Planet, shares his journey and insights on test automation and software development. He emphasizes the importance of passion and individuality in testing, as well as the overlapping skills between developers and testers. Anton also discusses the significance of mentorship and maximizing learning opportunities in early career stages. He provides advice on transitioning from manual testing to development and highlights the challenges and solutions in test automation. Lastly, Anton talks about the testing community in Bulgaria and his future plans and projects.
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In this episode, host Chris Harbert interviews Mark Farrell, a Senior QA Consultant at Deloitte, about his experience with test automation and his exploration of generative AI. They discuss how Mark got started in test automation and the impact of AI on jobs in the industry. Mark shares insights into his work with generative AI, including the challenges of prompt engineering and the use of different AI models. They also discuss the importance of evaluating AI solutions for test automation and the future of AI in the field
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Andrew Knight, the Automation Panda, Principal Architect at Cycle Labs. They discuss the importance of testing in software development, different types of testing, test automation, and the challenges in testing. The conversation provides insights into the role of testing in ensuring software quality and the strategies for effective testing, as well as providing concrete advice on how to excel in your organization by growing the SDET role.
Developers Who Test Podcast
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In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Steve Upton, a principal QA consultant for ThoughtWorks, about his journey into software testing and his role as a QA consultant. They discuss the importance of shared responsibility for quality and the need for everyone in the team to participate in testing. Steve emphasizes the value of taking ownership and driving change, as well as the importance of experience and breadth of knowledge in the field. They also explore the role of metrics in measuring quality and the challenges of balancing metrics with user needs. The conversation concludes with advice for individuals looking to transition into consulting and the future of career paths in quality engineering.
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We interview Don Campbell, Partner at Founder Partners, formerly CEO at GatherUp to talk about quality at startups. Don shares his experiences as a founder, executive, and investor at numerous startups to provide insight on how to prioritize Quality at your small company and prepare for growth by encouraging a testing mindset within your team.
Don Campbell on LinkedIn
Chris Harbert on LinkedIn
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