A Facebook Ad for Ministry of Testing - Boston

Subtly was never my strong point...

"Hrm... I wonder what this Facebook ad is trying to tell me?"

Hopefully, this Facebook ad, which will be running for the next seven days, will let me know if people will click on it and possibly share it. This trial run has a small budget of a few bucks a day for the next week, focusing just on people in the immediate Boston and Cambridge area who have "software testing" or "QA" as keywords.

If it seems okay, I'll re-up the ad two days before the Meetup with a bigger budget.

Let's see how this turns out...

Happy Testing!

-T.J. Maher
Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub

Made it to the Best of TechBeacon 2016 for "Switching Careers in QA: From manual testing to automation development"

From Best of TechBeacon 2016: Performance Revs Up (12/30/2016):

"Trends like exploding mobile app use and test automation tools are transforming the role of performance testers and QA staff everywhere. The field continues to offer plenty of opportunities for career growth—for those who know how to adapt and respond to the changes that are happening around the discipline [...]

"Switching careers in QA: From manual testing to automation development

"Some people believe that manual test engineers are an endangered species. If you are a manual tester, and you're looking to break into the testing automation space to stay relevant, here are a few things you need to keep in mind, starting with the fact you’ll be doing a lot of actual coding. T.J. Maher, an automation developer with Adventures in Automation, outlines from first-hand experience just what you can expect when making the switch".

... It's been an amazing year for me professionally, with a lot of ups-and-down in my career.

• Finally getting settled in as a newly-minted automation developer, publishing an article about the experience, the first article I have ever published. 
• That job getting up-ended in a management shift, publishing an article about that painful job search, and what I learned from it. 
• Turning that job-searching article into a thirty-minute talk, the first one I have ever given. I presented it to the Greater Boston QA and Testing Meetup. 
• When the Greater Boston QA and Testing Meetup rebranded itself as Ministry of Testing - Boston, the founder of the group invited me to be a co-organizer. 

Here is what to expect with Adventures in Automation in 2017:

• Part 4 and 5 of Testing The-Internet with Geb + Groovy + Spock.
• An Introduction to Nightwatch.js, a Node.js and JavaScript framework. 
• Notes and highlights from Ministry of Testing - Boston Meetup events I am organizing.
• Behind-the-scenes glances as I try to use the skills I picked up doing event planning for the Nerd Fun - Boston Meetup and use them as a new co-organizer for Ministry of Testing - Boston.

Happy Testing, and have a Happy New Year!

-T.J. Maher
Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub

The Ministry of Testing - Boston is looking for a permanent home!

I am happy to say that I have been made the co-organizer of the newly rebranded "Ministry of Testing - Boston" Meetup group, formerly the Greater Boston QA and Testing Meetup, at https://www.meetup.com/ministry-of-testing-boston. We are now under the Ministry of Testing umbrella.

My first task as co-organizer? Try to find Ministry of Testing - Boston a home!

Right now, the group is in the first year of its existence and is still in the nomadic stage. We always need to find a new location from month to month. In spite of this constant switching of locations, we do seem to get a high attendance rate of around 30 - 40 people per Meetup, with over 350 members.  

A friend of mine is checking to see if there is room at Google's Cambridge, MA office for our organization to meet once a month. If there isn't room, I need to find a back-up location!

Leave me a message below, or say hello to me at Twitter at @tjmaher1.

Happy Testing!

-T.J. Maher
Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub

// Sr. QA Engineer, Software Engineer in Test, Software Tester since 1996.
// Contributing Writer for TechBeacon.
// "Looking to move away from manual QA? Follow Adventures in Automation on Facebook!"

Hello, Ministry of Testing: Boston! Goodbye, Greater Boston QA and Testing Meetup

It looks like the Greater Boston QA and Testing Meetup, a software testing group I spoke at a few months ago about How to Pass a Coding Interview as an Automation Developer, has been rebranded!

Conrad Holloman < @hollomancer >, founder of the group, sent our this email yesterday:

Hi, I'm very happy to announce that the Boston QA Meetup is joining Ministry of Testing (http://www.ministryoftesting.com) as a sub-chapter!

The Ministry of Testing aims to change and lead within the software testing world. They are doing this through a strong focus on learning, collaboration and resources. You are part of the story too, and we hope you can join us along the way!
As part of this change:

We are looking at opportunities to host longer-form QA and testing events, and possibly something focused on the New England region!

We will be merging our Slack chat with the global Ministry of Testing community!

Additionally, we are still looking for hosts and speakers for the first quarter of 2017. Contact me if interested!

-Conrad

Go to https://www.meetup.com/ministry-of-testing-boston/ and sign up!

I love the Ministry of Testing! I've been enjoying their testing feeds for years, and I blog irregularly for their Software Testing Club subgroup, at http://www.softwaretestingclub.com/profile/TJMaher­

Hrm... I wonder if that means that TestBash - Boston might be coming to Massachusetts? I wonder if they need any help organizing?



Happy Testing!

-T.J. Maher
Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub

// Sr. QA Engineer, Software Engineer in Test, Software Tester since 1996.
// Contributing Writer for TechBeacon.
// "Looking to move away from manual QA? Follow Adventures in Automation on Facebook!"

This week at work: The hard part of learning Nightwatch.js

This week, at work, I've been attempting to compose a new end-to-end test using libraries that other coders at my workplace have written.

It's a simple test: When you process a patient using Component A, and register them using Component B, in the database you should see status code C.

A + B = C.

Lucky for me, another developer already wrote libraries of Nightwatch.Js tests for Component A and Component B. I am just making logical assumptions on what parts I need and glueing them together, hoping it all works out. Then, I'm using the PostgeSQL library that Node.js provides to get the status code C that I need.

Sometimes, it doesn't all work out.

Hard part reading other's @NightwatchJs: Which is vanilla #JavaScript? #ES6? @NodeJs? #MochaJs? Third party #postgreSQL or in-house library?

— T.J. Maher (@tjmaher1) December 15, 2016

If something goes wrong, and I need to RTFM, which M should I look at to increase my understanding of how the code works? Where is the code from? Is it from:

• Basic Nightwatch: http://nightwatchjs.org/guide
• The Mocha Test Runner: https://mochajs.org/
• A Node.js library: https://nodejs.org/en/docs/
• Vanilla JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript
• ECMAScript2016 (or 2017): https://tc39.github.io/ecma262/
• PostgreSQL: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/
• Node.Js implementation of PostgreSQL: https://www.npmjs.com/package/pg
• Or is it an in-house developer's library? 

Let me tell you, I am having the time of my life trying to figure our how things fit together! :)

My favorite thing has always been attempting to figure things out by burying myself in independent research and taking a hella lot of notes. And more notes equals more blog entries!

When I come up for air in January, after this month's deep dive, expect to see a lot more projects involving Nightwatch.js, an automated testing solution geared towards Node.js projects.

Until then, Happy Testing!

... Wow. I can't believe how happy I am at work, with my new position as a Software Engineer in Test. Great company! Great co-workers! And a really, really great job. Let's hope I can get up to speed quickly.

-T.J. Maher
Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub

// Sr. QA Engineer, Software Engineer in Test, Software Tester since 1996.
// Contributing Writer for TechBeacon.
// "Looking to move away from manual QA? Follow Adventures in Automation on Facebook!"

#AmIASoftwareEngineerYet?

In other news, at work...

I created a new @NightwatchJS repo at work, and adjusted @PolyglotPurdy's Yeoman generator as a proof of concept. #AmIASoftwareEngineerYet?

— T.J. Maher (@tjmaher1) December 3, 2016

... Of course, I made sure to give Joe Purdy full credit. Thank you for the Yeoman generator!

Happy Testing!

-T.J. Maher
Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub

// Sr. QA Engineer, Software Engineer in Test, Software Tester since 1996.
// Contributing Writer for TechBeacon.
// "Looking to move away from manual QA? Follow Adventures in Automation on Facebook!"

Hello, Russia?

Well, that's interesting... I just noticed a huge jump in traffic on this blog.

Range: Dec 3, 2016 

Pageviews by Countries

Entry	Pageviews
Russia	2391
Japan	193
United States	97
Ukraine	43
India	20
United Kingdom	15
Germany	11
Australia	5
Canada	4
France	4

... How the heck are you all finding this web site? Has someone's bot program run amok? :)

-T.J. Maher
Twitter | LinkedIn | GitHub

// Sr. QA Engineer, Software Engineer in Test, Software Tester since 1996.
// Contributing Writer for TechBeacon.
// "Looking to move away from manual QA? Follow Adventures in Automation on Facebook!"

It's twinkly like a Christmas Tree! Deloitte's diagram of the "Agile Umbrella"

I just can't stop looking at this Agile diagram that Chris Webb, former Directory of Consulting at the Deloitte Consulting Company in Australia, put together.

Chris Webb's Agile Umbrella Diagram. Click on it to zoom in a bit. 

If you want to see the full size image, go to the Deloitte blog, entry, Navigating the Agile Landscape, written by Chris Webb  back in March 7, 2016. In it, he talks about all the different practices and frameworks that fall under what he calls, "The Agile Umbrella".