Archive for March, 2009

Test-driven development and pair programming – still rock!

We at Cogniance are huge funs for test-driven development and use this approach from our early days – almost 4 years (well, looks like a bit of time now!). We also appreciate the usefullness of pair programming – it is especially convenient for code-review and getting_up_2_speed sessions. At the same time we start hearing from our fellow programmers from other shops that these techniques are…well, almost obsolete now and hardly useful. Fortunately, it seems to be not the case not only with us, but with other guys as well. Here’s an extract from one of recent posts at Twitter blog:

“Twitter has learned to be much more test-driven … By always implementing diligent test coverage, our defect rate lowers significantly.” And here what they say on pair programming:

“The Pivots [contractors, working for Twitter] as they like to be called, quickly became cultural role models for pair programming—a methodology in practice at Twitter today. Pair programming has helped us achieve more than just higher quality code and better code readability. This methodology is also about more intense and focused work sessions, automatic code reviews, and better tests. Pair programming also develops better personal relationships and improved communication which has meant a lot.”

As you see, TDD (test driven development) and pair programming are among key techniques at Twitter team.

Here’s the master source on their blog:  http://tinyurl.com/cuhzo5 .

Posted in Quality Assurance and testing, Web 2.0 technologies | 7 Comments »

Interviewing testers and QA engineers

It is always quite complicated task to prepare and conduct a good interview for IT specialists, and for testers particularly. I used to spend lots of time preparing for interview and evaluating candidates, because the price of mistake here is extremely high, as you know.

Last days, going through the web I found amazing resource with the huge  collection of interview questions for QA engineers and testers. Its located here

For about 75% those questions might satisfy seekers and interviewers.

Highly recommended.

Tags: Interview, Quality Assurance, Software Testing
Posted in HR and recruitment, Quality Assurance and testing | 4 Comments »