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An Exploratory Tester’s
Notebook
Michael Bolton
DevelopSense
QUEST Chicago
April 2009
I’m Michael Bolton
Not the singer.
Not the guy
in Office Space.
No relation.
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Who I Am
Michael Bolton
(not the singer, not the guy in Office Space)
DevelopSense, Toronto, Canada
mb@developsense.com
+1 (416) 992-8378
http://www.developsense.com
I help solve testing problems
that other people can’t solve.
Acknowledgements
• James Bach
• some material in this presentation is taken from
our Rapid Software Testing course
• Cem Kaner
• Jon Bach
• who introduced me to the Moleskine notebook
and who, with James, created and documented
session-based test management—and provides
exemplary session notes
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This Presentation Is Under
Continuous Development
• For updated notes AND a more
formal paper on notebooks:
quest2009@developsense.com
The First Law of Documentation
“That should be documented.”
“That should be documented
if and when and how it serves our purposes.”
Who will read it? Will they understand it?
Is there a better way to communicate that information?
What does documentation cost you?
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Documentation: Product or Tool?
Product
Tool
Audience:
Self
Team
Customers
Regulators
Purpose:
Recollection
Organization
Communication
Demonstration
Paradigm:
Notebooks: A Personal View
• Over the last I’ve been keeping a set of
notebooks
• This is an experience report on how one
exploratory tester and consultant (me) has
used them
• This is a context-driven talk; this is not a
best-practices talk
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My Introduction to the Moleskine
•
I’ve kept documents (mostly for school or work) all my life
• scribblers
•
legal pads
• ASCII text files
• Word documents
•
In January 2004, I noticed Jon Bach’s Moleskine notebook
• In January 2005, James Bach suggested I get one. I did.
•
It turns out there’s a something of a cult…
• http://www.moleskinerie.com/
• http://www.moleskinecity.com
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moleskine
So What’s the Big Deal?
• Several form factors
•
larger notebook
• smaller notebook (pocket size)
• reporter style
•