There is not a phase in the software development lifecycle where a question is not asked. There is not a role within the team that builds the software that doesn’t ask a question. Questions allow us to clarify, verify, validate and importantly, understand that the solution being developed is both feasible and meets the user’s needs.
Testing is about asking questions.
Testing is the least idealised role in a software development team. Aside from testers, nobody wants to test, yet everyone is eager to ask a question especially if one gets to stroke their ego by revealing a flaw in the thinking of others.
If we renamed the profession to something like “Software Inquisition”1 would more people want to do it? Would the other roles be more willing to learn more about testing inquisition?
I think that as of tomorrow I will officially be a Software Inquisitor.
- Nobody expects the Software Inquisition! [↩]
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Ryan Boucher is a Software Inquisitor and is passionate about it. You can find a whole raft of articles and anecdotes about software testing and other topics he gets excited about. |
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One Response to “May I Ask a Question?”
[...] to ones ability to be a competent member of a software development project. As I touched on in May I ask a question every role asks questions. Without asking the question you assume knowledge. The trick is; knowing [...]