Yesterday was Test Fest in the office. With Andy and Dom in from Maryland and Rochester, respectively, we had eight of nine team members in one room, a record for AdaptiveBlue.
Test Fest. An opportunity to follow Andy’s test plan and break the upcoming release. As Andy stated, everyone, including devs, participated. Through participation some of us learned to appreciate the challenges of testing and how tiring it can be.
I learned that despite being tedious at times, the rigorous demand to problem solving that testing requires is a fulfilling mental exercise. Surprisingly, with each bug uncovered, I felt a sense of pride - it was one less bug that future users would bump into. Each bug uncovered meant a better user experience for all.
Which leads me to Andy, our Chief Quality Officer. After Karen and Jeff - and now also Mark and Dom - write code, Andy gets to break it. In his own words he’s been “testing software since 1994 - testing patience since 1971.”
Andy earned his nickname, The Black Finger, breaking code for 10 years at IBM, Rational, and IBM/Rational (rumour has it that the acquisition occurred to bring Andy, the Boom King, back into the ranks). For the past three and a half years he’s had the pleasure of breaking Alex’s code.
A husband and father, Andy is also a photographer, writes a blog on software testing, and is active on FriendFeed.
Andy’s quest to make AdaptiveBlue’s products bullet proof is driven by the frustration he feels when things don’t work as well as they should. It is his goal that individuals who use our products will not feel that same frustration.
Next time you’re using BlueOrganizer or SmartLinks and are impressed with how well they work, think of Andy and his passion for testing.
