Perfect Software And Other Illusions About Testing

Author: Gerald Weinberg
Length: 149 page(s)
Written: May 2011
Sales Rank: 12
Views: 629

Testing is a sampling process designed to obtain information to use in decision making. Some testing activities entail banging on a keyboard, but many others do not. Suggesting a design review, for example, is a form of testing and a developer's reason for not wishing to submit to a review can be a useful test result. Many people see testing purely from the banging on keys point of view. That and other misconceptions lead to painful consequences for them. Gerald Weinberg, a self-described empathic person, has written this book to ease their pain.

Weinberg has been in this business a long time. He was an old timer in 1973, when I first read his enormously influential Psychology of Computer Programming, and he has been an effective and productive writer and consultant in the field of developing and testing software ever since. I have reviewed several of his books in my columns over the years. In addition, many books by other authors, especially those published by Dorset House, show the profound influence of Weinberg's style and approach.

The insights of the late Virginia Satir, a family therapist, inform this book, as they inform much of Weinberg's work about the social aspects of managing software development. Weinberg applies Satir's decomposition of communication into intake, meaning, significance, and response to structure his lessons about how to use testing. He also uses her insights about defensiveness and survival rules to understand the natural immunity to information that people often experience in threatening situations. Nonetheless, there is no new-age mumbo jumbo in this book. Weinberg translates all of his psychological insights into practical terms.

The book's title fallacy concerns the widely held belief among the general public that companies could produce bug-free software if only they tested everything before selling it. This belief falls apart upon cursory examination. Testing "everything" is not possible in a finite amount of time. Furthermore, while testing can identify problems, it cannot correct them. Testing can only provide information. Those in charge of a project can use that information to help them assess the risks associated with various options -- such as shipping the product or sending it back to the developers for more work. This decision is not always easy, because fixing one problem often leads to introducing or uncovering another, sometimes more serious problem.

Weinberg has seen the insides of far more projects than most of us have and has worked with some relatively dysfunctional organizations. His stories of scapegoating, intimidation, and other misuse of testers are hair raising. If you work under such conditions, you need to read this book right away.

As in many of his other books, Weinberg presents some lessons in the form of vignettes. Weinberg uses this form effectively. He shows how the pressures on the different players combine with their partial understanding (or misunderstanding) of the situation to lead to scapegoating, turf battles, and finger pointing.

Another distinction that Weinberg makes is between testing and demonstrating. If you know the "test" result in advance and are only running it to give potential customers a good feeling, you are not testing. Testing always seeks to find new information. Weinberg is firm in his belief that machines will never replace brains when it comes to software testing. Testing is an interactive process of investigation in which each finding leads to new questions.

Like all of Weinberg's books, every page of this one has wonderful insights and advice. If you have anything to do with software development, you should get a copy and read it at least twice.

About the Author

Gerald Weinberg
Member since: Feb 2011
Publications on XinXii:  6

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I've always been interested in helping smart people be happy and productive. To that end, I've published books on human behavior, including Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method, The Psychology of Computer Programming, Perfect Software and Other Fallacies, and an Introduction to General Systems Thinking. I've also written books on leadership including Becoming a Technical Leader, The Secrets of Consulting (Foreword by Virginia Satir), More Secrets of Consulting, and the four-volume Quality Software Management series.

I try to incorporate my knowledge of science, engineering, and human behavior into all of my writing and consulting work (with writers, hi-tech researchers, software engineers, and people whose life-situation could require the use of a service dog). I write novels about such people, including The Aremac Project, Aremac Power, Jigglers, First Stringers, Second Stringers, The Hands of God, Freshman Murders, Earth's Endless Effort, and Mistress of Molecules—all about how my brilliant protagonists produce quality work and learn to be happy.

Early in my career, I was the architect for the Project Mercury's space tracking network and designer of the world's first multiprogrammed operating system. I won the Warnier Prize, the Stevens Award, and the first Software Testing Professionals' Luminary Award, all for mu writing on software quality. I was also elected a charter member of the Computing Hall of Fame in San Diego and chosen for the University of Nebraska Hall of Fame.

But the "award" I'm most proud of is The book, The Gift of Time (Fiona Charles, ed.) written by my student and readers for my 75th birthday. Their stories make me feel that I've been at least partially successful at helping smart people be happy.

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