Today, I sat down to run through a software solution developed for a client and ‘broke’ it in under 30 seconds. It wasn’t intentional, I swear. I was told that I am a ‘walking logic bomb’ and that I shouldn’t be allowed to test software because I break it without trying.
I have worked on many software projects where we have unit tested, system tested, user acceptance tested and then when the rubber met the road we weren’t able to parallel test. We are pushed to deliver more functionality quicker because the needs of the business changed.
Today’s events are proof that even if you do three levels of testing, there will always be a period of time required for warranty before the solution is ready for prime time or ‘gold’. It would have been catastrophic if today’s events had unfolded in a fully deployed system.
The nugget is ‘even if you design quality in, someone will be able to find a sequence of events that can cause abnormal behaviour. In effect, testing never stops. Every transaction entered tests the system.”
