So we testers generally end up on this path by "accident" , there are few of us who set out looking to be a software tester, most of us end up here through a progression of roles that orbit some of the skills needed to test, and finally fall into an actual testing role. Now I'm happy to admit that i've met few testers, and my generalisation is almost certainly more applicable to the older generations than the youngsters of today, however I think the same things will apply.
When I fell into an actual testing role, I was largely guided by what the dev guys wanted from me, Basically a squishy computer, lots on input output checking, very dull. But i'm one of those people who can focus and get on with stuff like that, so I did.
While doing this I thought I'd better have a read around testing and find out what the techniques were, good ways of doing stuff, anything I should know, you know that handy stuff that makes doing your job easier.
So I Googled testing and kept running across this ISTQB test qualifications and syllabus stuff. So I spoke to my boss, pointed it out, and we got access to the course content, I dutifully began studying it. It was dry, dull and seemed so much like those big litigious businesses that we so hate dealing with, all their pointless paperwork. Not a great sign, I got about halfway through the course before I ended up skim-reading the rest.
Time to use some real Google-Fu, I actually have a certificate in that you know, I dug around online looking at testing info, and started to find references to context driven testing. So I read what I could find with my initial searches, and boy did it make so much more sense.
But what's all this got to do with the knowledge base needed to test?
Well for those of you who haven't looked into context driven testing, you should, but you'll find a name and blog crop up quite a bit, James Bach, and his blog.
What I have found, probably coming to the realisation over the last 6 months, is real testing is something I'm crazy passionate about. why? because it offers such a world of mental engagement and complexity. I took me a few time of looking at James's Testers Syllabus to realise quite how much all of this draws me in.
Where am I going with this? Well after discovering this other land of testing, I have read a few blogs watch a lot of conferences, perused some books and generally been absorbing the atmosphere, It's hard to quantify where I've got to, and where I should concentrate next, mainly because there is so much to know, so many topics that are worth learning. So I struck on a solution, on James's blog there is this fantastic mind map for a testers Syllabus, so I plundered it for my own uses. Not only does it give me a framework of great topics, as estimated by someone who I think has a great deal of useful things to say about testing. But I allows me to track where I have focused my attention, and where i'm a bit light in knowledge.
So I've copied James's mind map, and started to recorded on it details beyond where it stops, so specific points, concepts, books, classes etc.
What has this given me?
Well a great way of seeing what i've been neglecting, where I have focused, and what I currently think I know something about.
I've done this because testing is a passion of mine, I have found a place where I can mentally fit, a job that gives equal parts engagement and challenge. It is something I plan on doing for as long as i'm working, and I will be brilliant at it, but only if I keep learning, and pushing what I know, into all the areas that will make me a better tester, this mind map gives me a way of seeing how i'm doing.
There is a long way to go but all journeys begin with one step.
Now I just need to find this fabled community to match wits with, not that i'm ready to do so, but talking about testing really helps to understand it. And I plan on really understanding it.
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