In the last main Testing Times edition (April fools day), I argued, quite ludicrously, that testing is a waste of time. That it slows releases, costs money, and ruins everyone’s fun. Judging by the comments, a few readers took it a bit too literally. So let’s be serious for a minute.
Let’s be honest, testing is what teams do when they don’t trust their developers. It’s a tax on speed, a relic from waterfall days, and a crutch for people afraid to ship. It just slows down releases, kills creativity, and wastes budget that could be better spent on another sprint.
Open-source testing tools like JMeter and Selenium have obvious appeal—no licensing fees, endless customisation, and a community to lean on. But, if you’re using open-source for mission-critical testing, you need to ask—is it really worth the risk?
Your testers find a critical bug the night before a major release. Should they have the power to stop the launch?
Testers provide essential insights into software quality and risk. Their analysis is critical for decision-makers, so would it make sense to give them the power to veto releases?
Would you intentionally plant defects to test your test team? Bebugging, as it’s known, is a technique where software flaws are purposely introduced to gauge testing effectiveness. Are there times and places where bebugging is a valid way to help improve processes, tighten up testing, or root out a potential weak link?
We have all witnessed an alarming rise in deceptive marketing practices that undermine customer decision-making and market integrity, with tool vendors increasingly comparing their tools to industry leaders using deliberately misleading information.
As a test professional, I’ve seen countless projects where defects are treated as disasters rather than learning opportunities. But what if we flipped that mindset? What if software development projects embraced failure as SpaceX does—not as an end, but as the beginning of progress?
Over the next five years, software and software testing are set to evolve at a rate we’ve never seen. In fact, it has already started. Over the last few years, everyone remotely involved in tech has witnessed the constant change in the way things are done. This seemingly non-stop innovation has been driven by emerging technologies, shifting development paradigms, and businesses reevaluating their priorities… and is set to accelerate.
In the race to protect us against rogue AI, our best defence might not be scientists or politicians, but the often-overlooked heroes of the tech world: software testers. As AI systems increasingly mediate healthcare, criminal justice, and military decisions, this unlikely profession could hold the key to preventing existential catastrophe.
You see them everywhere. Top 10 this, top 20 that. We have all searched for lists that rank products. Whether cars, phones, software, or anything else. But how trustworthy are the ‘top software’ lists on the internet?
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