I’m rating the talks based on my personal opinion, which means that they might be totally different from yours. AND I haven’t seen the talks yet, so the results might be totally different once I get to see some of them. The process is the same as in my previous “At a glance” posts. Look here for instructions.
This is Conference at a Glance – HUSTEF 2019!
What I have heard through grapevine is that the conference is highly valued in Hungary and the premises a gorgeous. I can’t wait to see the venue and the city of Budapest. From Hustef.hu web page:
“HUSTEF is one of the premier conferences in Europe for practitioners in all areas related to software testing. The conference was founded in 2011 by the members of the ”Hungarian Testing Board” with the aim to have an annual platform where the best from the software and IT R&D sector can exchange information about new developments in the industry. HUSTEF has grown to be one of the biggest software testing events in Europe, with more than 670 attendees from all over the world attending the 2018 conference. HTB is the local representative affiliate of ISTQB accrediting thousands of software testing engineers who share a belief in the power of innovation and a desire to be leaders in the field of testing.”The talks and workshops vary from technical talks to practical, from AI to think like a tester. This is the kind of place where I want to be! Let’s see what we have ahead of us. I want to say that I am really biased towards intelligent testing thus making it difficult to see good in some of the talks.
Keynotes (There seems to be quite a lot of those)
Tariq KING - AI for Software Testing: The Ultimate Journey
In the last blog post I wrote, I mentioned Mr. King’s talk. There will be quite a lot of talks about AI and it is a big thing in software testing now and in the future. I believe this is going to be an experience report that describes Ultimate’s ways of working. Since I will dive deep into AI and ML in Q4Q-conference week after HUSTEF, I see this as a nice introduction.- Short time value: ** (The opportunities to learn and create some basic knowledge in AIST is a good thing. To take these lessons to my daily work at the office doesn’t seem likely now. At least without a proper introduction to the subject.)
- Long-time value: (I think the long-time value comes from somewhere else. My current company isn’t going to adopt these AIST principles any time soon.)
- Steal-ability: (My skills and the nature of my current workplace I see very little to incorporate to my work nor do talk about it in the foreseeable future.)
- Challenge-ability: ** (The role of “intelligent testing” isn’t to be lightly brushed aside. AIST is a tool and it is useful in its own domain.)
Philip LEW - From Tester to Thought-Leader: The 8th Habit of Highly Effective Agile Testing
An interesting topic in general. The skills development is something that I and Jani will do a talk about. If this talk describes the skills themselves, we talk about methods to deliver those skills to the team. Also, since Mr. Lew knows quite a lot about coaching, I see a lot of similarities in our way of thinking (and maybe in the contents of our talks).- Short time value: *** (Skills and ways of thinking are what I’m interested about and I think he can deliver a lot of valuable information.)
- Long-time value: *** (The habits of being effective as a learner are something that everyone should have. Learning is the most important feature of a tester!)
- Steal-ability: *** (I’m SO going to steal ideas from this topic! Luckily it is on the first day, then I can refer to it in our talk.)
- Challenge-ability: ** (The problem (the only problem) with this talk is that I might be so biased towards thinking this is so awesome talk that I accept any ideas presented.)
Dionny SANTIAGO - Surviving the AI Testing Apocalypse
Although this is also something that will be a topic at Q4Q, I think this is an interesting topic for me personally. I’m not worried about the coming of AI. I’m worried about the hype and attitudes it brings with it. AI is a tool like that serves a purpose. When agile testing came with a strong focus on automating tests, testers were worried they run out of jobs. Adapting is a key thing here. I don’t see every tester having to be able to code an AI but learning how to use it as a tool. Hopefully, this talk will shed some light on that area.- Short time value: ** (A thought-provoking things once again. Being able to talk about the pros and cons of AI is valuable.)
- Long-time value: ** (Being able to “keep my job when AI takes over” is a good skill. Not being a traditional engineer with a technical skillset, I need the skills to help me get through the Judgement Day without Arnold.)
- Steal-ability: * (I might include some of these things in my talks about testing skills and skills development.)
- Challenge-ability: ** (It might be that the talk doesn’t help me in the way I think. The “surviving” might be focusing solely on developing technical skills to some level. I can do that, obviously, but I am seeking different help and ideas.)
Jennifer BONINE & Janna LOEFFLER - The Life of a Tester: From Once Upon a Time to Happily Ever After
Am I hearing more AI and ML talks? This seems a bit similar to Dionny Santiago’s talk about keeping your QA job after AI is released to the world. The animation makes this an interesting keynote. I’ve known Janna Loeffler for a couple of years now and I know she can deliver a killer talk with visual aids. The animation might prove really valuable in learning about the subject. I and Jani keep saying that quality is not made by the testers but by the whole team. I think this presentation taps into that. Quality IS everyone’s responsibility!- Short time value: ** (The survival theme keeps popping up in the conference. I hope this supports and gives new views on the subject.)
- Long-time value: ** (“Writing my own story” is important in these times of change. This talk should change my views in the long-term.)
- Steal-ability: ** (Although I cannot steal the animation, I’m sure I can make some of the ideas my own. Life as a tester needs constant adaptation and having a long term plan is always a good thing.)
- Challenge-ability: ** (When talking about AI again, I see possibilities of colliding with my ideology of having intelligent testers and using AI as a tool. Let’s see what happens…)
Talks (Only 6 this time)
Prashant HEGDE - Revolutionize Your Testing Strategy with MindMap Driven Testing
I started using mind-maps over ten years ago and I even gave a talk about it at Nordic Testing Days in Tallinn in 2012. The use of mind-maps has changed my thinking and the way I report and take notes in my testing. In agile testing, reporting should be agile as well. I’ve found it useful to do that on a mind map. Apart from reporting testing, I use mind-maps to model the context and the product. It helps me to understand the system as an entity instead of separate functions etc.- Short time value: *** (Being able to hone my skills in using mind-maps is really useful for me. The insights I’m expecting might inspire me to write something down on how I use them nowadays.)
- Long-time value: ** (Having a background in using mind-maps in the past might not bring that much new stuff, but perhaps it helps me look at things from a different perspective. At least it should inspire me to use them in more efficiently in the future.)
- Steal-ability: *** (If I see a technique or hear an idea in this talk, I will most definitely use it to my advantage.)
- Challenge-ability: *** (Knowing quite a lot of the subject, I’ll be able to challenge things that don’t fit my view of the world. Though I don’t totally disagree, I try to help Prashant make more out if his use of mind-maps by offering my own view.)
Jeremias RÖßLER - Test Automation without Assertions
Ok… Silver bullet test automation tool, eh? I might be overly critical and I’m sure my biases are at work here. I have an allergy to snake-oil test automation. The topic sounds like a tool advertisement. Hopefully, it is more of a technique or an approach to testing instead of offering one tool to solve all problems. I’m sorry Doctor, but we might not have joint ground in this subject.- Short time value: ** (My company is always looking to improving test automation. I might be able to offer a solution for them to assess. Perhaps we can find a use for it.)
- Long-time value: * (Knowing about things always help to develop as a tester. Being able to talk about Recheck most definitely helps me when discussing keyword-based test automation.)
- Steal-ability: (I see very little things to take as my own or develop it further.)
- Challenge-ability: *** (I expect to see things that contradict my views. It might be more useful to have a proper talk outside the conference room so that I won’t spoil the event for those who find it useful.)
Aleksandra KORNECKA - Cognitive approach to software quality
I’m a soft skills person. I like thinking, emotions, communication, etc. skills that are not necessarily engineering skills. This talk might help me develop my skills in those areas and be able to talk about them.- Short time value: *** (I should be able to use these skills in my work quite easily very soon. On a weekly basis I need to coach people using these skills and teaching them.)
- Long-time value: *** (Knowing these skills most definitely helps me be a better coach.)
- Steal-ability: *** (I see large potential in developing this topic further with my previous knowledge.
- Challenge-ability: * (Not knowing too much of the research side of things might make it quite difficult to challenge ideas.)
Vojtěch BARTA - Customer Testing and Acceptance
At my company and in my role as a coach we quite often train acceptance testers and customers to do some testing. This can be in the form of accepting the system and paying the bill, some form of validation to lay the blame for defects or contract violation or some other. Acceptance testing always requires a mission which we try to achieve. The talk seems to cover most of the issues I am facing in agile testing in our company. How to make people understand the importance of UAT?- Short time value: *** (We have a lot of coaching cases coming up and I feel that this could drastically improve the value of our work.)
- Long-time value: *** (I’ve been on the customer side doing the acceptance along with other testers, so these skills also help me in my future assignments to test from the end-user/customer point of view. Also, knowing more about acceptance testing helps me educate our sales teams to make better proposals and have them involved them development throughout the lifecycle.)
- Steal-ability: *** (I’m SO going to steal as much as I can from this talk. The fact is that I can incorporate this knowledge into my previous knowhow and be a better tester and a coach.)
- Challenge-ability: ** (Since I know quite a bit about this topic, I feel that I have loads to say about this. I’m keen on seeing the results and can Vojtěch include all the important things in his talk.)
Janna LOEFFLER - On the Shoulders of Testing Giants
Just like Janna, my philosophies are molded by these Giants. Michael Bolton, James Bach, Cem Kaner, Jerry Weinberg, etc. are the bedrock of my testing self. These views are then affected by people like Elisabeth Hendrickson, Huib Schoots, etc. I have my feet firmly on the shoulders of there magnificent individuals.- Short time value: *** (As a story I’m sure I get loads of ideas and remember to be thankful to those I work with. The talk might not have a “thing” to take home, but it most certainly will make me think of all the people I look up to.)
- Long-time value: * (I’m not sure if there is a long-time value here. I expect a story and something to make me think. I might find it easier to acknowledge the influences, but at this point, I feel this is more of a short-term thing.)
- Steal-ability: ** (“Stealing” this might be hard but talking about it can be a bit easier.)
- Challenge-ability: * (I am on the same lines as she is. You need to appreciate the people that influence you. Maybe even say it to them occasionally.)
Shekhar RAMPHAL - Five Levels of API Automation
API testing is an important thing in testing. I’d say a basic level of test automation is API automation. Asserting calls is fairly simple and can be done on almost any language and testing tool there is. It’s nice to hear a talk about making test automation easier. I think it’s good for “dummies” like me.- Short time value: *** (A more detailed understanding of API testing is good to have. Even if I can’t do automation per se, I can use the knowledge to coach developers to do better tests.)
- Long-time value: ** (Skills like this will be beneficial in every kind of testing in this era. AI and similar tools require knowledge of API testing.)
- Steal-ability: * (To further develop this is a bit too difficult for me, but I believe I can incorporate this into my daily work.)
- Challenge-ability: ** (I have some prior knowledge of the area and I have healthy critical thinking towards automation. The API testing can (and should) be used wisely.)
