What testers actually do.
WHAT THE WORK INVOLVES
Understanding what the software should do Designing how to verify it Executing tests, manually and automatically Investigating and reporting defects Assessing and communicating risk Improving how the team prevents defects
WHAT IT IS NOT
Clicking through a script someone else wrote.
WHAT DISTINGUISHES A GOOD TESTER
Curiosity about how things break Attention to what seems slightly wrong Ability to reason about what has not been tried Communication of risk without alarm
WHAT SCEPTICISM MEANS HERE
Not believing something works because it appeared to.
WHAT TESTERS SHOULD ASK CONSTANTLY
What happens if?
WHAT MAKES THAT VALUABLE EARLY
It surfaces cases nobody considered while they are cheap to address.
WHAT THE RELATIONSHIP WITH DEVELOPERS SHOULD BE
Collaborative, with a shared goal.
WHAT MAKES IT ADVERSARIAL
Defect counts used as measures of either party.
WHAT TO AVOID
Positioning testing as a gate rather than a contribution.
WHAT TESTERS OWN
Information about risk.
WHAT THEY DO NOT OWN
Quality, which the whole team produces.
WHY THAT DISTINCTION MATTERS
Quality assigned to testers absolves everyone else.
