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by Fullofkittens 01/02/2016, 12:24pm PST |
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Here's a thought experiment: You've got a brand new project. To that project is assigned one (1) developer and one (1) tester. The project person says that the tester is "the dev's dedicated QA."
What is the nature of that relationship?
What I have seen, time and time again, is that, unchecked, this relationship automatically falls into what I'll call a behavioral anti-pattern where, instead of working together with the tester, the developer will tell the "QA" that they will get them something to test ASAP. Then they go off to their corner, and then, depending on the dev's experience and skill level, will spend more or less time creating a build that is more or less broken. They then hand to the tester so that the tester can tell them how good or bad it is, i.e. how much is left to do.
THIS IS A SHITTY SETUP.
Why is it that, out of all of the let's-call-them "craftsman" professions, software developers are the only ones that get a corresponding less-expert person to tell them how sloppy they're allowed to be? Home contractors don't hire a guy that doesn't know much about carpentry to tell them whether the fucking house is going to fall down. Dentists don't ask hygienists to tell them whether they... root canal'd correctly(?). Why do software developers need this role, saving - as you say - themselves from their own bad habits?
I suspect that - again, unchecked - developers and QA assume that, because the QA person exists, they must be there to check the dev's work for them, kind of like the devs' professors did in college. They want somebody to tell them whether they did their job right, because if that person gives them an A, then they did well, and are essentially insulated from any responsibility for whether the system actually serves the purpose it meant to serve. It's an immature attitude toward work, it puts the tester in a shitty situation, and - most importantly - it fucks up projects, making them arrive late and low-quality because the handoff between dev and QA is expensive as fuck. It would be so, so much better if you discovered that bug while you were debugging locally than it is when a problem "gets all the way to QA."
A better, more mature setup would be if those two people, given that project, recognized that one was an expert at coding and the other was an expert at discovering unexpected threats to the code's value, and they worked side-by-side to deliver something that met both's standards with few-to-zero handoffs between them. So, when I say I want to "get rid of QA," that's what I mean. I want developers and testers working together to deliver great software that they're proud of, not devs sheepishly handing known-busted code to QA and then coming to agreements about how shitty it needs to not be before it can ship. |
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ITT, We Announce When We Gain Levels by Ice Cream Jonsey 10/21/2013, 5:09pm PDT
I got a lot saner this week. Also, someone sell me a clapstro shirt. by fucking newbie 10/21/2013, 6:54pm PDT
I wear a Caltrops shirt hoping someone from the site will see. NT by None of you ever have. 8( 10/21/2013, 8:43pm PDT
Is it a tasteful polo? NT by Gentleman Jim Browser 10/21/2013, 8:51pm PDT
Re: ITT, We Announce When We Gain Levels by laudablepuss 10/23/2013, 12:51pm PDT
+10 to liver failure! NT by Cannibal Dave 10/23/2013, 1:29pm PDT
I just realized when Jay-Z says "BK is from Texas" he means Beyonce Knowles. by Last 10/23/2013, 3:03pm PDT
Reroll? When you've got the Liver of Vecna??? NT by Mischief Maker 10/23/2013, 3:30pm PDT
Well, I think I was hit by a wight by laudablepuss 10/25/2013, 6:43am PDT
POLLYANNA, BITCHES! by fucking newbie 10/25/2013, 1:00pm PDT
Re: ITT, We Announce When We Gain Levels by Roop 10/24/2013, 7:04am PDT
Re: ITT, We Announce When We Gain Levels by Ice Cream Jonsey 10/24/2013, 10:08am PDT
Evil email is still around? NT by fabio 10/24/2013, 1:05pm PDT
As an NSA front, yes NT by Entropy Stew 10/24/2013, 1:06pm PDT
Re: ITT, We Announce When We Gain Levels by Roop 10/24/2013, 6:26pm PDT
The Cafepress store died. Anyone got that image? I need an OMM mug. NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 08/26/2017, 3:47pm PDT
I'd offer to trace a lo-res version again but can't find any by Roop 08/26/2017, 4:58pm PDT
The guy who by Grebble 10/26/2013, 7:41pm PDT
Someone tell fucking newbie that story. Please? NT by A FRIEND 10/26/2013, 7:45pm PDT
I'm okay with this. NT by fucking newbie 10/26/2013, 10:25pm PDT
Blowjob while playing DotA NT by only one level? 10/26/2013, 10:43pm PDT
Respect! Those games are hard enough without ANY dicks in your mouth. NT by Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS) 10/26/2013, 11:55pm PDT
Okay, that was legitimately funny. by Mischief Maker 10/27/2013, 10:10am PDT
That wasn't Paul. Paul can't be brief. That was probably someone terse like jeep NT by fucking newbie 10/27/2013, 1:30pm PDT
wasn't me. funny though NT by jeep 10/27/2013, 10:06pm PDT
Hahahahah omg win NT by Eurotrash 10/27/2013, 11:47am PDT
Press R to cum NT by bitch of a cooldown time 10/27/2013, 2:49pm PDT
Convinced a local nerd business to give me a side job telling them what to do by serial malcontent 06/10/2015, 12:30pm PDT
Resolutions and contexts, leveling up style? by Welcome to Omsk 01/01/2016, 1:33am PST
Re: ITT, We Announce When We Gain Levels by Fullofkittens 01/02/2016, 7:10am PST
Us developers need people to save us from ourselves NT by Oom Shnibble 01/02/2016, 9:10am PST
It's your customers that need saving. =( by Fullofkittens 01/02/2016, 12:24pm PST
I would commit a crime to be able to work with you. by Ice Cream Jonsey 01/02/2016, 5:14pm PST
The only crime you'd need to commit would be the crime of moving to Lansing NT by Fullofkittens 01/03/2016, 5:22pm PST
Aren't you describing pair programming? NT by But with one dude being cheaper 01/03/2016, 6:17am PST
Yup (though a more experienced tester might not be cheaper) by Fullofkittens 01/03/2016, 6:57am PST
In 4 days we start a whole new life with the family. by Oom Shnibble 01/17/2016, 10:59am PST
Threaten to trash the place before you leave by nope 01/17/2016, 1:00pm PST
How did this all work out? NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 08/26/2017, 3:44pm PDT
Went from hopeless shut-in NEET fuck to a workaholic in high end real estate. by Welcome to Omsk 08/26/2017, 5:17am PDT
What's NEET, buddy? by Ice Cream Jonsey 08/26/2017, 3:43pm PDT
Not in Employment Education or Training NT by Vested Id 08/26/2017, 3:50pm PDT
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