I\u2019m back home and back at work\u2026and slowly getting used to both. It was by far the best (and longest) vacation I\u2019ve had (or will probably ever have). While it\u2019s good to be home, it\u2019s a bit weird getting used to working again after so much time off (just over 8 weeks in total).<\/p>\n
But \u2013 a lot happened while I was gone that\u2019s probably worth at least a comment or two.<\/p>\n
Microsoft went a little crazy while I was out, but the moves (layoffs, strategy, etc.) make sense \u2013 as long as the execution is right. I feel bad for a lot of my friends who were part of the layoffs, and hope they\u2019re all doing well by now (and if any are reading this, I almost always have job leads to share).<\/p>\n
A lot of testers I know are riled up (and rightfully so) about ISO 29119 \u2013 which, in a nutshell, is a \u201cstandard\u201d for testing that says software should be tested exactly as described in a set of textbooks from the 1980\u2019s. On one hand, I have the flexibility to ignore 29119 \u2013 I would never work for a company that thought it was a good idea. But I know there are testers who find themselves in a situation where they have to follow a bunch of busywork from the \u201cstandard\u201d rather than provide actual value to the software project.<\/p>\n
Honestly, I have to say that I don\u2019t think of myself as a tester these days. I know a lot about testing and quality (and use that to help the team), but the more I work on software, the more I realize that thinking of testing as a separate and distinct activity from software development is a road to ruin. This thought is at least partially what makes me want to dismiss 29119 entirely \u2013 from what I\u2019ve seen, 29119 is all about a test team taking a product that someone else developed, and doing a bunch of ass-covering while trying to test quality into the product. That approach to software development doesn\u2019t interest me at all. <\/p>\n
I talked with a recruiter recently (I always keep my options open) who was looking for someone to \u201carchitect and build their QA infrastructure\u201d. I told them that I\u2019d talk to them about it if they were interested, but that my goal in the interview would be to talk them out of doing that and give them some ideas on how to better spend that money.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t hear back.<\/p>\n