EuroSTAR is always a chance to meet old and new friends, and
weather problems during the 2010 conference gave me further
opportunities. My flight was delayed by 36 hours, so, free to
wander through old Copenhagen, I was hailed by a booming voice in
the middle of the Illums Bolighus department store.
Brett Gonzales had been trying to see me all conference, and had
not slept the night before, writing and polishing his submission
for EuroSTAR 2011. You may remember Brett had submitted the 'lost'
piece for EuroSTAR 2010, whose star qualities were reported in the
May 2010 EuroSTAR newsletter [EuroSTAR newsletter #50: http://qualtech.newsweaver.ie/startester/1pfmyig9qro].
Well, he has done it again, and I believe that we have a truly
great presentation, and what is more, the first submission for the
2011 conference in Manchester.
As I turned over the pages, letting the numerous 1,000 Kroner
notes fall into my lap, my eyes began to fill with tears. I had to
continually force myself to NOT think about the Christmas presents
that I could now buy, as the words began to tell their story. Here
was a masterpiece. Rather than tell you about it, I will let
Brett's words wash over you. Even the title makes anticipation rise
like a dove.
"What my father never told me about Software Testing"
Reflect for a moment. It is the duty of parents to instruct
children in important aspects of life; why Polos have a hole in the
centre, whether the moon is really made of Green Cheese, and of
course, the intricacies of software testing, and whether there are
any better test techniques than Classification Trees. The title
shouts injustice at us, and we can feel the passion rising. The
questions began to flow in my mind: is it because Brett's father
told him nearly everything about Software Testing, or taught him
nothing at all? What a fantastic father to teach their child
everything about the testing profession and the title makes me
consider this a 'must' for the Manchester program. But it gets
better.
When I was growing up in The Vatican City, Luxembourg,
Switzerland, Andorra and Liechtenstein, we used to have family
holidays in Greece, Hungary and Brazil. We would go 'bug hunting in
Belarus', '(defect) tracking in Transylvania' or 'reviewing in
Russia', and it was only in later life that I appreciated the true,
lasting value of these formative years.
Whilst others were enjoying the sand at a Baltic Sea resort, I
was looking at motionless trains, and having static
analysis and defective coupling (or was that
defect coupling) explained. At army training
sessions, the highlight was always Inspections,
whilst the base of trees provided scope for
interesting root cause analysis, but I had to be
agile as I explored, to prevent
me falling into disrepute. However, father
was always wise enough to make sure that trees were strong enough
to take my weight - he called this branch testing.
Visits to scientific institutions would see theoretic scientists
developing the first aeroplane black box flight
recorder, or biologists developing the genetic test
process. We always liked scientists who are both cheerful
and smoke cigarettes as they work, providing both happy day
testing and smoke testing. Those that
arrive before 06:30 are obviously doing early
testing, whilst the late arrivals have had a bad day
already and are testing when under pressure (stress
testing). The fence that forms part of the border between
France and Switzerland in the Jura was a lesson in boundary
analysis, and visits to the UK Parliament let me see the
Lords - a peer review. We always viewed elections
as importing as this often resulted in state
transition, and furniture buying could be a problem for
the indecisive - decision: tables. Finally, car
factories were often a highlight, as we would see cars driven off
the production line - automotive testing.
My father was a good father and a good husband, and he instilled
in me lots of guidelines for a long and productive career. I miss
him since his untimely death, and he is obviously at this very
moment testing in the clouds. Remember: old
testers never die - they just pass the exit
criteria.
The opening sentence is superb. We have already identified with
a number of countries, and Brett must have been given some inside
information on countries from which we have NEVER had a
presentation at EuroSTAR. Not only that, but the numerous delegates
from some of these fringe countries who will attend the conference
in Manchester 2011 can readily identify with the presenter, and
recognise one of their own, a true patriot.
Brett has skilfully managed to cover vast swathes of the ISTQB
Foundation syllabus in his submission, and this presentation alone
will provided serious revision opportunities for anyone intending
to take this extremely worthwhile examination in the near future. I
have to admit that I wept openly when reading of the untimely death
of Mr Gonzales (senior) - a sad loss to Brett's family, and to the
testing world. I am only grateful that Brett will be able to give
us further insight into this previously unheard of giant of our
industry.
The key point for me is that Brett has skilfully managed to
remove the personal references from his former effort, whilst
leaving conference delegates completely in the dark as to what he
will talk about. That is mark of a truly great presentation, and
one which I am sure the Program Committee will endorse, and even
consider for a key-note session
After seeing the piece, it is only right that this is forwarded
forthwith to the EuroSTAR team, and my duty as a man of integrity
is to recommend that it is included. Unfortunately, the 1000 Kroner
notes seem to have been mislaid at about the same time as the
enormous hotel bill for my extended stay had to be paid. This is
unfortunate, but these things happen sometimes.
Editor's note: The EuroSTAR team note the
evident quality of the submission, but on this occasion the piece
will not be included for consideration for the conference. All
submissions are reviewed by at least 2 of the review panel, and
these are reviewed blindly, with the panel members unaware of the
author. The mere inclusion of this piece has identified Brett
Gonzales as the author. Any friends of Brett could be able to
'persuade' others of its merits. Submissions have personal
information removed on receipt by the EuroSTAR team (name, age,
country, company, etc.) to enable the review panel to be as
objective as possible.
Submissions are considered for CONTENT, INNOVATION, CLARITY and
THEME ALIGNMENT, and on these aspects only. Whilst so-called 'war
stories' can have considerable merit, there has to be clearly
identified Software Testing lessons available that will benefit a
significant number of delegates.
Finally, all members of the Review Panel and the Program
Committee themselves have the best interests of the world-wide
Software Testing community close to their heart, and will not be
susceptible to bribes of any kind.
Because of the problem with the missing 1000 Kroner notes, and
the on-going police investigations, the EuroSTAR team believe that
it is a correct decision NOT to reveal the identity of the author,
which is why we have used the fictitious "BV Analysis".