Flipkart Testing @ Hyderabad - Session Results

At the end of Session 1 & Session 2, we preapred two mindmaps about the product & the testing plan.
The corkboard image is also put up below.
Thanks to Anurag & Raghavendra.

Consider this for testing

What to test

Testing Notes

Leia Mais…

Flipkart Testing @Hyderabad - Session 1

One of the reasons I travel at my own cost to present workshops at other cities is that I get a chance to meet  other software testers. I arrived at Hyderabad on 27th October early morning around 5.30 am IST. The first tester I met in Hyderabad was Raghavendra who received me at the railway station. From there, we went to his room, got ready and left for the venue for the workshop. The experience at the workshop is for a different post. I missed my train and had to stay one more day at Hyderabad. Raghavendra was generous enough to accommodate me in his room for an additional day. His hospitality is definitely commendable - right from food, entertainment facilities, the unlimited energy when asking questions on software testing and so on. Thanks Raghavendra.

Raghavendra wanted me to explain my testing approach from scratch. He wanted to know how I test, what tools I use, what bugs I find and so on. Though we were tired after the workshop, we were awake till 11 pm IST discussing about software testing. The TV was on mute and we don't know when we dozed off. The notebooks were filled with lots of notes.

Plan for Sunday
Next day, as planned we got up early and I invited Anurag - a budding software tester whom I met online in my Skype training class and also at the workshop on Saturday. We planned to test a product for close to four or five hours and present a test report.

We started at 12.06 pm IST and decided to use corkboard.me to share notes.
The application to be tested was 'Flipkart'. We spent the next 45 minutes testing and noting the issues, tests, tips, notes.
Attached are the corkboard images before and after the 45 minute session.

When we started

After Testing Session 1

Leia Mais…

Bug Investigation - Never Give up...till you tried enough

          After many days, I got my office laptop home to verify some bugs assigned to me. Some are disciplined enough to focus on only the bugs first. I belong to the category of people who are inquisitive enough to probe areas closer to the bug, find new bugs and log them. On verification of one such bug, I noticed something strange.

The Bug Appears
There was a popup and there was a browse button to choose a file to upload. I clicked on the Browse button but nothing seemed to happen. I clicked again and the file picker window opened. I was pretty confident that I had clicked on the Browse button the first time too.
Confidence doesn't help you unless you have proof especially in the case of bugs.
And as I have got into the habit of recording ( http://bit.ly/SYpIlG ) my testing sessions, this too was recorded. The next step was to follow the advice given in BBST Bug Advocacy Course (Remember RIMGEA? ) on encountering a bug. I tried to identify the critical condition, recorded a shorter video and  logged the bug.

The next day morning, the programmer pinged me on Skype asking if I could still replicate the issue?
I could not :( 
Immediately, I noticed few differences.

• Firefox browser was updated [The issue I replicated was on a lower version]
• This build was deployed early morning whereas I had logged the issue on a previous build.
• The programmer was testing on a different account. 

The advantage of recording the sessions is that I don't need to remember every detail of the bug. The important, obvious details are recorded and my mind is free to remember some other information.
I replayed the video. The programmer was also watching it. I could not replicate the bug.

It is easy to assume that the different factors has a major effect and close the bug as non-reproducible.

The bug is Nailed
I did not give up. Points from James' blog post were crossing my mind. I observed the video more keenly. Immediately, a thought process started. The video showed 12:27 AM - which means - I tested at home - meaning - a different network - TATA PHOTON data card. Bingo! Is the bug caused by difference in network?

I always carry my data card with me - what if the office network is down - I don't want to depend on one factor alone. I immediately disconnected from the office network and connected the data card to the laptop.

The bug was reproduced. I was happy that a combination of factors helped me replicate the bug.

Proof (Recording), Resources (Data card), Observation (Time & inference about the network speed).
I wanted to share this story - its like the war story where you successfully defeated your enemy.

I would love to hear about your war-stories.
PS: Did you know how I searched for the blog post by James. Refer the image below. I applied something which I learnt in the Power Searching With Google course. What is the use if one doesn't learn and what is the use of learning if its not applied? :)

Power Searching With Google course lesson

Leia Mais…

Time for some Coursera courses :)

I received my Power Searching With Google certificate last week.

Sep 24 to Oct 10
2012 

My next target is Coursera courses. There are plenty of them. I signed up for the Python course which started today. And the next course I want to do is the Think Again: How to Reason and Argue
This should take care of this year. Hopefully, these courses help me to become a better software tester.

Meanwhile, I created a video for Bug DeBug Facebook channel on how to get started with mind maps.
Its less than five minutes long. Get started on your mind maps.
And thanks to Sudhamshu, Bharath & everyone involved, the next workshop is on Oct 27th at Microsoft, Hyderabad.

Leia Mais…

Oct Batch - Online Hands on Testing Training

The first batch started in the month of April. It was well-received and you can find the comments here.
Encouraged by the participants, I conducted the second & third batches too. I have learnt a lot from the three batches, the participants, the drop-outs, the assignments, the emails and the feedback. Few of them attended all three :) Thanks. While I conducted three batches, I also attended the online 'Power Searching With Google' course.

To complement the online course, I have started conducting onsite courses on Software Testing with Exploratory Testing as the main theme. The Chennai workshop was a first time experience of conducting a full day workshop. So, I am back after a month's break. Some of you were asking me about the fourth batch and here is your chance.

Course Contents:

• Mind maps - Introduction, Creation, Different types, Tools, Tips, Collaborative mind map.
• Testing Session - Bugs and Oracles, Mnemonics, Heuristics, Tips, Intermittent bugs.
• Tools - Screen Capture, Screen Recording, Note-taking, Shortcuts, tips to improve productivity.

What is different in fourth batch course content?
I have slightly modified the content and will be covering few topics in detail. This course will be slow and detail-oriented. I want to answer more questions in this course compared to the previous three batches.

How do I join?
Ping me on Skype [ajay184f is my Skype ID] and let me know that you are interested to attend the fourth batch of my hands on training on software testing.

Date & Time?
Every Monday, Wednesday & Friday starting October 10th till Nov 2nd.
Time: 10 pm IST to 11.15 pm IST
Cost: Its Free. I need your active participation, nothing more.

Any questions?
If you want me to conduct an onsite training in your city, email me [ ajay184f@gmail.com ]

Lets meet, test and share what we know :)

Leia Mais…

Power Searching With Google - Done!

You can still take the course at www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com
Calendar is booked with lot of tasks :)
Next week - New batch of online training, this month - workshop at Hyderabad, till Dec - important features to be tested at office,  project to be submitted for my MS degree... Life is busy and I am loving it :) 

Leia Mais…