In a response to my blog post on training, Mark wrote:
I would worry more about the thrashing effect of a developer testing course which did not focus on a specific developer tool set. Choosing a specific tool set allows the teacher to remove many variables from the discussion so they can rapidly teach concepts like "red, green, refactor" without spending time deciding if pyunit, nunit, junit, TestNG, or utplsql is the right choice for the user.
I agree, and here's what I'm thinking -
A one-day course on "What works in software testing: Or How To be Lazy Without Really Trying" (With Credit Mike Schwern, of course)
Before the course, attendees email a list of the core technologies they work on. Then, we customize the afternoon, perhaps splitting into small groups.
Essentially, the course is "Homebrew Test Automation"++ - as a workshop.
Now, the whole idea isn't fully baked, but developing ideas with people on the cutting edge is part of what I use this blog for. The risks in the format are medium-sized; people REALLY like stable, repeatable training and start to weird out when I customize training on the fly. Such custom training is also hard to get right and easy to get wrong.
Still, that's what I'm thinking about right now. What do you think?
Monday, June 04, 2007
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3 comments:
I like the concept of a fast paced "Homebrew Test Automation" workshop tailored to the needs of the specific students in the class. It seems like a bold step, but a big challenge for you as well, since each class will have different skills, different needs, and different environments.
I've been pleased with our internal results in applying the ideas from Brett's Homebrew Test Automation presentation. We've avoided spending big money on test automation tools, have made our software better by making it more testable, and have kept the business running through it all.
Brett lists a one day course in Homebrew Test Automation which may be a good starting point for your idea.
Matthew - you've my attention. Like you I jumped when I saw Ron and Chet's ad. Too bad the world thinks that all applications are run through a web browser and are suited to Fitnesse.
I develop rich client applications (eclipse rcp) and would love to find a way to automate more of my testing. Currently I do testdriven development of the lower layers but the GUI resists my efforts.
So I'm interested.
Mark Levison
http://www.notesfromatooluser.com/
That's tough for sure. However, the value is light years beyond a plain vanilla Course that has a lot of unreliable fluff. If you can't stumble through and interact, then I think you'll miss out on like 98% of the learning. I mean, you can't teach a mouse to run a maze by having them watch you play Pac Man. (yes an oldschool ref. =))
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