Hell of a Tester

Uncalled because we all already know this right? As great people such as Cem Kaner already told us about it a long time ago http://kaner.com/pdfs/PracticalApproachToSoftwareMetrics.pdf Uncalled as I haven't used these in years. Written because I was just asked by management to report product fault statistics. Using any sort of defect/bug/fault count related metrics in sw development is harmful. Bug counts fall apart already as they are trying to quantify something that is inherently qualitative. Additionally they make people focus on reporting problems rather than solving them. And really bug counts tell nothing about the product that involved people wouldn't already know. The only thing good in bug statistics on sw development is that it gives test managers a very easy way to provide meaningful and professional looking but totally hollow metrics.  And that is not good. Using any sort of test case count related metric in sw development is harmful.  ...

I don't report bugs . Bug is such a loaded word that people understand very differently, that instead of using it and explaining what I mean by it I rather just use other words. Like observations, thoughts, surprises, ideas, alternatives, or something similar. (And no I don't use fault, defect, or error either). Bug has also quite a negative connotation. "Reporting a bug" is kind of like telling someone that they've been served. And as we are actually giving away the gift of information, why wrap it in such a nasty package? And maybe more importantly it is very likely that whatever you might have to say is wrong. If not plain wrong, then at least incomplete. So I like to approach the kind of situations with the assumption that I am probably wrong. Cutting off anything that might sound arrogant makes stuff quite a lot easier. Especially after you realise later on that you have been wrong. I leave plenty of observations unreported . I don't want to waste...