Hi Reader, it's pie mail time again!

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Have you started making plans for 2021 yet?

For me, I have a few goals - one of which, is to grow the audience of pie mail a bit more. I'm really enjoying putting these together, and hearing from those of you that read it.

So, if you like this content, please tell a friend, or feel free to forward it on. I'd appreciate it!

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Do you have any goals or aspirations for next year? Let me know, I'd be interested to hear what 2021 has in store!

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OK, on to the email!

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🎓 This week I learned... 🎓

...why so many testers love the writings of Jerry Weinberg!

Based on the recommendations of several people, I've started reading his book, Perfect Software: And Other Illusions about Testing.

I'm about half way through, and it's very good - it's really clearly articulates a lot of the tacit things that we do as software testers. I find it really valuable when someone can put what we do into words, clearly and explicitly.

After all, one of the most valuable, and hardest parts, of being a good tester, can be putting things in to words! Anyway, here's a quote from the opening chapter of the book that I really liked.

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Good testing involves balancing the need to mitigate risk agains the risk of trying to gather too much information. Before you even begin to test, ask yourself: What questions do I have about this products risks? Will testing help answer these questions?

If you don't have questions about a products risks, there's no reason to test. If you have at least one such question, then ask: Will these tests cost more to execute than their answers will be worth?

- Jerry Weinberg

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👩‍💻 Job board 👨‍💻

Hey, it's a new feature! Welcome to the job board!
Don't expect to see this every week, but, I do want to be able to highlight cool jobs that come up. Most likely these will be Auckland/NZ based roles.

Here's the important thing though: this will be well curated. You won't see companies here that I wouldn't apply to myself - these will be quality jobs. (Insert quality assurance joke here).

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Anyway, Vital are hiring!

​Quality Engineer - Vital (Auckland)​

I've worked with some of the team at Vital in the past, and I've met others, and they're great people.

They're doing some really interesting things to improve experiences in hospital emergency departments - which I'm sure you're aware, is of world wide significance at the moment.

So - great team, cool product, doing things to make the world better. If you're considering a move, check it out!

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🧩 Puzzle time 🧩

Here's something I encountered recently, while writing some automated checks.

In my browser console, I can use a CSS selector to find a field with an id of 'fname', like so:

But, when I tried to use the same CSS selector in my test code, it couldn't find it!

Here's the code:

And the resulting error:

Can't call setValue on element with selector "#fname" because element wasn't found

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Can you see what I need to do to make this selector work?
The answer is probably obvious if you've come across it before, but it had me stumped for a bit!

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✨ Some interesting links ✨

"The project that convinced me to resign" by James Christie

James Christie is a seasoned testing expert, and always has some great stories to tell.

​This article is about a test project that had two sets of test plans - one for the test team, another one just for show. It sounds terrifying and hilarious and, well, eerily familiar.

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Are you 'technical' or 'non-technical'?

I haven't had a chance to watch all the videos from TestFlix yet (there's tons of them), but so far, Aaron Hodder's talk is a standout.

​In this thought provoking video, Aaron highlights some funny, sad and even tragic software problems - and points out how being 'technical' doesn't necessarily mean 'better'.
Honestly, if you've got a spare ten minutes today, spend it watching this.

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Vincent Van Git

​Vincent Van Git is a fun tool for turning an empty git history into a work of art.

Is it of any practical use? Absolutely not. Is it neat? Yes. Give it a try!

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An introduction to SaaS financial concepts

OK I know - the subject sounds very dry.

Hear me out though. If you're working in a SaaS company - it's important to know about some of the terms that are important to your sales, marketing and executive teams.

I think especially as testers, we can be a bit 'distanced' from the work that these teams do. Understanding some of the language and things that drive them can help bridge that gap - and ultimately shape the way we test better.

Anyway, ProductTank Auckland hosted a meetup on this subject. It features three experts on the matter - Audrey Cheng from SnapComms, Colin Bowern from GenTrack, and Bradley Scott from UneeQ. If you're ever looking to learn more about SaaS products, these are the people you want to learn from!

It's about an hour long, take some time to watch it over your lunch break - it's worth your time.

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🎪 Events coming up 🎪

The year is winding down... there's only one thing on my radar at the moment, but it'll be a good one!

Where to start with Security if you're not a Security Tester (Auckland only, 15 December)

​The final Ministry of Testing Auckland meetup for the year!​

Did you know, you don't need to be an elite hacker to do security testing.

Prachi Jain from ERoad is going to come and demonstrate how someone with none, or little, security experience can get started. It should be a great night!

I hope to see you there! (Don't forget to RSVP, OK?)

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👋 Thanks for reading! 👋

I hope that was useful to you! Let me know what you liked best from today's email.

I'm going to skip the next scheduled pie-mail, because I'll be away camping - which means you won't hear from me until the new year.

So, stay safe out there everyone, have a good break if you're taking one, and if you're working through - don't work too hard, OK?

See you in 2021!

Don't forget, you can always reach out to me on LinkedIn or Twitter, too.

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Cheers,

James a.k.a. JPie 🥧

​https://jpie.nz​

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