Better Software - July/August 2008 - (Page 12) Editor’s Pick is Your refrigerator running? “There ought to be a room in every house to swear in.”~ Mark Twain Quotables Nice assessment. The biggest trap that I’ve seen in analysis of performance data is summed up in an observation by Weinberg (for which I can’t find the reference; sorry) that if you look at a small enough portion of any line, you’ll see linear performance. It’s important to remind ourselves correspondingly that when we do see linear performance, we’re looking at a portion of the line. Michael Bolton coMMenting on Danny faught anD Rex Black’s “Peeling the PeRfoRMance onion” www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6a It’s easy, especially at the beginning of a project, for a project team and the people who request deliverables (some of which are requirements) to be unable to differentiate between goals and requirements. The project team might be excited about the project and want to do everything. The people who want the release might feel as if there’s pressure for everything in this release. But it’s too easy for the project team members to be sidetracked if they haven’t differentiated between goals and requirements. Johanna RothMan, “What aRe you WoRking on?” www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6b In the past, I’ve had managers with the “open door” policy, but when I poked my head in the door (which was open) and asked if they had a second, I got a furrowed brow and an annoyed, “Yeah. ” Perhaps busy managers could help themselves by closing the door if they aren’t prepared to have someone walk through it. stickyMinDs.coM MeMBeR M geoRge coMMenting on naoMi kaRten’s “oPening the DooR to BetteR oPen DooR Policies” www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6c Ever heard the phrase “The best defense is a good offense”? That is what this final principle of dynamic-path handling asserts. By creating automated tests that attack the application in whatever state it exists, the tests will be more robust and, in many respects, more effective. Dynamic-path handling is a concept that is akin to modelbased test automation. Model-based test automation is an automation approach in which the tests are derived by creating and implementing a model of the functional parts of the AUT. Dynamic-path handling, while similar, is smaller in scope. Where model-based test automation normally begs for a relatively complex framework, dynamic-path handling concepts may be implemented within any framework. Dion Johnson, “taekWonDo-Mation—tRaining youR scRiPts foR DynaMic coMBat: PaRt iV—stRikes www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6d When we moved into our new home, the refrigerator’s ice maker was, naturally, disconnected. It’s one of those Homeowner 101 things, so it was no surprise when I flipped the ice maker’s arm down that the machinery failed to do anything at all. Joseph McAllister Managing Editor, Multimedia jmcallister@sqe.com Our new kitchen has excellent cabinet space—the sort of cabinets that leave no wasted space around the room and even wrap tightly around the refrigerator. This is one of those things you do when you like your refrigerator very much and either plan to keep it eternally or hope that the model will never cease production. For the new homeowner, it means that there’s nowhere to get a good grasp on the thing to pull it out from its niche. But my wife and I consider ourselves to be reasonably handy around the house, and it didn’t take too long to work a system of ropes through the bottom of the fridge to move it. Once out, I slid behind the fridge and attached the copper water line to the back of the fridge. Or, I would have, if the nut on the compression fitting hadn’t been stripped. What followed was a series of attempts, mistakes, self-loathing, fridge-loathing, trips to the hardware store, and, in the end, a phone call to a professional handyman. The compression fitting was no big deal, but when the copper pipe snapped off near where it enters the floor and I could find no access to its path through the recently finished basement, I had to admit that I was in a bit over my head. As I looked around the house at all the still-packed boxes, the surfaces left to clean, and the furniture that needed moving to its proper destination—and I realized that I’d spent most of a Sunday not connecting the ice maker—I began pondering my commitments. Which brings me ever so conveniently to my Editor’s Pick for this month, Michele Sliger’s “In Search of Commitment Clarity.” In it, Michele tells the story of a team member who overcommits to a heavy workload during the course of one iteration and pays the price. “We’ll never get the product out the door if I don’t push!” he tells his concerned manager. There’s something about being in a new house that makes one want to rush to see a long list of projects accomplished. But it’s a new house. It isn’t going anywhere, and neither are we—and neither are the projects. Those nifty, newfangled silicone ice trays have proven to be a worthy, temporary fix, and I’ll commit to the ice maker when I have sufficient resources (read: when the handyman calls back). Read “In Search of Commitment Clarity” at www.stickyminds.com/editorspick10-6 12 BETTER SOFTWARE JULY/AUGUST 2008 www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6a http://www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6b http://www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6c http://www.stickyminds.com/quotables10-6d http://www.stickyminds.com/editorspick10-6 http://www.StickyMinds.com
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