How 'hypermedia' is evolving public media
By: Meg Cater, Technical Content Manager, SmartBear Software"Hypermedia is the matter of which the World Wide Web is made. Much like the physical world is built of interacting elementary particles (Bosons and Fermions), the web is...
Get ready for TX: Tester Experience
In a recent discussion with some of my colleagues, we talked about the evolution from user experience (UX) to developer experience (DX) – the latter being increasingly important when building software components and APIs that are to...
How Healthcare.gov changed the conversation about software testing
By Lorinda Brandon, Quality EvangelistCredit: REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstIf you're anything like me, you've spent the majority of your adult life having your family members describe your career as "something in software." I've shaken many...
Sensible API testing
This blog-post is loosely based on a session on “API Testing and Debugging” that I was part of at a major API conference a couple of weeks ago. This time around, instead of telling the audience about new and old cool tools for API...
Quality is eating software
By Lorinda Brandon, Quality EvangelistBy now, we’ve all heard Marc Andreesen’s statement that "Software is Eating the World," and most of us recognize that we live this every day. Our daily lives are powered by software in ways we...
Revisiting the shadow quality of APIs
I had the happy fortune to be at StarWEST a number of weeks ago, which together with StarEAST is one of the major quality and testing conferences to take place in the U.S. every year. As always, it was a fantastic opportunity to take...
How to compete in a tough software testing job market
By Lorinda Brandon, Technical Evangelist at Smartbear SoftwareRecently, I was talking with a newly trained software tester who went for her first interview at a large well-known tech company. Getting the job was probably a long shot...
When will software testing be truly mobile?
As I’m sure you already know, a monumental shift from desktop to mobile is upon us. Not only have consumer applications started leaving the desktop behind, but B2B applications are also starting their migration – like a flock of...
What exactly is 'cloud testing' anyway?
Over the last weeks, I have found myself in several rather intense discussions about “cloud testing”: what it is, what it isn’t, and what it means for testing and QA professionals. The major source of confusion in these discussions...
The importance of diverse skills in software testing
By Lorinda Brandon, Technical Evangelist at Smartbear SoftwareRecently, I had the privilege to present to a group of students who are engaged in a curriculum designed to teach them software testing skills and hopefully get them their...
What's the difference between software testers and developers, and why does it matter?
By Meg Cater, Technical Content Manager, SmartBear SoftwareWhen we think of the major forces shaping our civilization, what most often comes to mind are big governments and corporations or breakthroughs in science and technology. I...
Using Tools to Learn Software Testing Practices
By Lorinda Brandon, Technical Evangelist at Smartbear SoftwareThe debate about when and how to apply software tools to our jobs continues to rage on. In some cases, the conversation can be very black-and-white, with some voices...
4 methods of crowd-sourced bug detection
By Lorinda Brandon, Director of Strategy at Smartbear SoftwareThe demands on quality are greater than ever, with so many software applications passing data through shared networks and cloud environments. With more critical systems...
Are software testing certifications harming the profession?
By Meg Cater, Technical Content Manager, SmartBear SoftwareOver the last few decades in the U.S., certification programs have become ubiquitous, bringing professional training and jobs to millions in many different sectors....
STeP at Per Scholas: Comprehensive training for passionate Software Testers
By Lorinda Brandon, Director of Strategy at Smartbear SoftwareAnyone who reads my regular posts knows that I am a strong advocate of software testing training. Software testing has not only become more complex in the past decade with...
Why is API security always somebody else's problem?
OWASP recently updated its list of top 10 security vulnerabilities and, judging by the accompanying assessment, security continues to be a major issue with today’s applications. This is especially true now in the era of APIs, where...
The new science of software testing
By Lorinda Brandon, Director of Strategy at Smartbear SoftwareI didn't make my career as a tester, but it is something I’ve done and returned to over the course of my professional life. I’ve dabbled in many roles in software –...
How open data and APIs fuel innovation
Just like many fellow developers and technology geeks, I was an avid Lego-builder during my youth. Those small plastic pieces gave me the possibility to create anything my imagination had in stock for me – and the cool thing was (and...
Getting value out of internships, on both ends
By Lorinda Brandon, Director of Strategy at Smartbear SoftwareAfter my article about providing software testing programs in college, I heard from several people directly and have seen multiple Twitter debates pop up about the...
Testers and developers, please learn to get along
I just got back from the StarEAST conference in Orlando. It’s one of the major testing conferences in the U.S. every year. As in previous years, it was inspiring to see so many qualified testers and QA managers in one place. Speaker...
