14 | Test automation
sloth
a deal with a big IT supplier to have He shelled out for the best test
their quality-centred products added automation solution money could
to his order. At the time it seemed like buy (or so the sales exec said). Feeling
a good idea – he saved the company pleased with himself he imagined
money and had a nice round of golf pouring a large Louis XIV, lighting up a
rolled-in to boot. He’d fallen into the cigar, kicking back and watching as all
superiority trap of believing that the of his testing nightmares melted away
most expensive or most prevalent in a flash of computer wizardry and
solution would always be the best, but dreamy music.
now was beginning to realise that this Unfortunately this was far from the
particular technology was not actually case. Two years and £1 million later,
compatible with his company’s needs. after a lengthy installation and script
He’d brought this solution in, so his development programme his team
pride was unable to take failure. were finally all set to start their first
Instead he persevered until it was too automation! The reality was that there
late and placed unrealistic goals on was no computer wizardry, no dreamy
his QA team, who were then forced music, nothing. It cost the company a
to revert back to manual testing. As a small fortune, and needed continuous
result the project time-lines slipped, attention and constant looking after
applications went out the door by a team of specialists to be effective.
late and bug-ridden, which proved Even with all this TLC, it was still prone
expensive in re-work costs and built to sulk and become unproductive.
up a huge stack of technical debt. Every time the application was
His department was now damned to updated, the specialists then had
an eternity of fire-fighting the latest to re-visit the code and tweak and
For those areas of the
problems. re-write parts of it so it would be able
application that were
The punishment in Hell will be: to to continue showing off its silky skills.
changing frequently, the
be broken on the wheel. Avoidance The upshot of this was that for
strategy: bigger isn’t always better. those areas of the application that
test automation became
Look around when evaluating new were changing frequently, the test
very difficult to maintain.
solutions. automation became very difficult to Testers with the necessary
maintain. Testers with the necessary
scripting skills were also
Sloth scripting skills were also very
Spiritual or actual apathy or laziness; expensive to employ and with staffing
very expensive to employ
an undue slowness to act; Sloth can cutbacks and no-end of changes to
and with staffing cutbacks
also concern wasting due to lack of the application, his QA department and no-end of changes to
use or allowing entropy, expanding kept resorting back to manual testing
the application, his
into almost any person, thing or skill in order to cope with the demand. In
QA department kept
that would require maintenance, short, his £1m investment slowly fell
refinement and/or support to continue into disuse and was doomed to take its
resorting back to manual
to exist. place amongst the graveyard of dusty testing in order to cope
The IT director of Hades Hire shelf-ware.
with the demand.
Company wanted an easy life. The punishment in Hell will be: to
T.E.S.T | June 09 June 09 | T.E.S.T
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