Melvin Dong's Weblog

Best Tester Definition.
The best tester isn't the one who finds the most bugs or who embarrasses the most programmers. The best tester is the one who gets the most bugs fixed.

Raul jokes with Morientes.

Spain's Raul, left, jokes with teammate Fernando Morientes during a Euro 2004 Group A training session at the Algarve Stadium in Faro, Portugal, Friday, June 11, 2004.

Look Alike(1) Rudd_Rooney vs ???

Sun's Culture.
Work hard, play hard, keep ahead of the competition by changing the rules. Win.

Look Alie?(3) - Pires and ???

Look Alike(2)? Michael Ballack And...?

Cool package tools: open pkg! Cross-platform packaging facility OpenPKG 2.2 released for Solaris 2.6/8/9/10 The OpenPKG project released version 2.2 of their unique RPM-based cross-platform Unix software packaging facility. OpenPKG 2.2 consists of 528 selected (from a pool of 800) packages which include latest versions of popular Unix software like Apache, Bash, BIND, GCC, INN, Mozilla, MySQL, OpenSSH, Perl, Postfix, PostgreSQL, Samba,Squid, teTeX and Vim -- all carefully packaged for easy deployment on 18 different Unix platforms, including FreeBSD 4.10/5.3, Debian GNU/Linux 3.0/3.1, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, Fedora Core 2, SuSE Linux 9.0/9.1, and especially Sun Solaris 2.6/8/9/10 on both SPARC and iX86 platforms. The major technical efforts for this release were spent on reducing the requirements on the underlying Unix platforms and further improving the portability of our packages. Additionally, we ensured that a smooth upgrade path exists from OpenPKG 2.1. I am dowloading it and will give a try.

I goaled one during last match VS Click-Tech Company.
Really a good news. Totally I've goaled 4 in 3 seccessive matches, I attibuted this to my rather long hair and cutting off my beard. HeHe. Maybe I am a bit superstitious. Perhaps. But I had to have my hair cut because it's so long. Hope this won't take away my luck, and I can continue my goaling.
Oh, The final score is very high, maybe 7:7.

Oct/31 : Marco Van Basten's Birthday!!!
Marco Van Basten's Personal Data:
Full Name: Marcel Van Basten
Date of Birth: 31 October 1964
Place of Birth: Utrecht, Netherlands
Height: 188 cm
Weight: approximately 80 kg


Personal Honours:
Top Scorer in Netherlands Top Division Soccer League, 4 Times (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987)
Top Scorer in Italian Top Division Soccer League, 2 Times (1990, 1992)
European Player of the Year, 3 Times (1989, 1990, 1992)
World Player of the Year, 1988
Europe's Top Scorer, 1986
Top Scorer and Best Player in European Championship, 5 goals in 1988


Van Basten's Clubs:
1970 - 1971 Edo
1971 - 1980 UVV
1980 - 1981 Elinkwijk
1981 - 1987 Ajax
1987 - 1995 AC Milan

I felt sicken on Van Nistelrooy!!! I watached on TV the soccer game Manchester Vs Arsenal last Monday. A scene shocked me :
Van Nistelrooy stamped on Cole's shin deliberately and escape the ref's book. Oh, my god, How could
this happened on the playground? This foul could terminate the career of a player!
Furthermore, Van Nistelrooy claim to be innocent afterwards. Did he feel any shame? I got tired
and shame of him though I like the Holland soccer team.
Marco Van Basten is my forever idol, not only because of his graceful skills, but his good personalities, his charateristics. My GF's idol is Raul for the same reason.
Now Basten is the boss of Holland National Soccer Team.
I stronly sugguest him drop Van Nistelrooy out of the team.

I goaled one during the last match VS Jade-Bird. Our soccer team beat the rial at 4:2, and I goaled one. Excellent!!!

foreshow: Sun Beijing Soccer Team Vs BeiJing Jade-Bird Team Time: this Saturday. I will surely join this match. Hope I will be in good condition and my team will win the game. I will update the final result on this blog next Monday. See you.

Sanity Test, Smoke test & monkey test.
Smoke tests get their name from the electronics industry. The circuits are laid out on a bread board and power is applied. If anything starts smoking, there is a problem. In the software industry, smoke testing is a shallow and wide approach to the application. You test all areas of the application without getting too deep. This is also known as a Build Verification test or BVT.
In comparison, sanity testing is usually narrow and deep. That is they look at only a few areas but all aspects of that part of the application. A smoke test is scripted--either using a written set of tests or an automated test--whereas a sanity test is usually unscripted.
A monkey test is also unscripted, but this sort of test is like a room full of monkeys with a typewriter (or computer) placed in front of each of them. The theory is that, given enough time, you could get the works of Shakespeare (or some other document) out of them. This is based on the idea that random activity can create order or cover all options.

Qualities of a Good Tester.(excerpt from www.sqatester.com)
1. Know at least some programming.
There's a popular myth that testing can be staffed with people who have little or no programming knowledge. Since they’re testing software, without know some programming, they can't have any real insights into the kinds of bugs that come into software and the likeliest place to find them.
2. Know the application.
The ideal tester has deep insights into how the users will exploit the program's features and the kinds of cockpit errors that users are likely to make.
3. Intelligence.
The single most important quality for testers (just as for programmers) is raw intelligence, good testers, just as programmers, are smart people.
4. Hyper-sensitivity to little things.
Good testers notice little things that others miss or ignore. Testers see symptoms, not bugs.
5. Tolerance for chaos.
People react to chaos and uncertainty in different ways. If the tester waits for all issues to be fully resolved before starting test design or testing, he won't get started until after the software has been shipped. Testers have to be flexible and be able to drop things when blocked and move on to another thing that is not blocked. Testers always have many irons in the fire.
6. People skills.
You can be an effective programmer even if you are hostile and anti-social; that won't work for a tester. Testers can take a lot of abuse from outraged programmers. A sense of humor and a thick skin will help the tester survive. Testers may have to be diplomatic when confronting a programmer with a fundamental goof. Diplomacy, tact, a ready smile- all work to the independent tester's advantage.
7. Tenacity (Merriam-Webster's dictionary explains it as: persistent in maintaining or adhering to something valued or habitual).
An ability to reach compromises and consensus can be at the expense of tenacity. The best testers are both socially adept and tenacious where it matters. The best testers are so skilful at it that the programmer never realizes they've been had.
8. Organized.
There's just too much to keep track of to trust to memory. Good testers use files, Databases and all the other accoutrements of an organized mind.
9. Sceptical.
That doesn't mean hostile. I mean skepticism in the sense that nothing is taken for granted and that all is fit to be questioned. Only tangible evidence in documents, specifications, code and test results matter. While they may patiently listen to the reassuring words from the programmers ("Trust me. I know where the bugs are.") - and do it with a smile - they ignore such in-substantive assurances.
10. Self-sufficient and tough.
If they need love, they don't expect to get it on the job. They can't be looking for interaction between them and programmers as a source of ego-gratification and/ or nurturing. Their ego is gratified by finding bugs, with few misgivings about the pain (in the programmers) that such finding might engender.
11. Cunning.
Systematic test techniques such as syntax testing and automatic test generators have reduced the need for much cunning, but the need is still with us and undoubtedly always will be because it will never be possible to systematize all aspects of testing. There will always be room for that off-beat thinking that will lead to a test case that exposes a really bad bug.
12. Technology hungry.
They hate dull, repetitive work; they'll do it for a while if they have to, but not for long. The silliest thing for a human to do, in their mind, is to pound on a keyboard when they're surrounded by computers.
13. Honest.
Testers are fundamentally honest and incorruptible. They'll compromise if they have to, but they'll righteously agonize over it. This fundamental honesty extends to a brutally realistic understanding of their own limitations as a human being.

What infomation needed between testers and develpoers.(excerpt from stickymind.com) What Testers need from Developers
Information
What the product is and how it works.
How the product is intended to be used.
What parts of the product are at greater risk of failure.
The schedule for remaining development work.
Status and details of any changes or additions to the product.
Status of reported problems.
Services
Provide timely information to the testers.
Respond quickly to reported problems.
Stay synchronized with the project schedule.
Collaborate to set an appropriate standard of quality.
Involve testers in all decisions that may impact them.
Seek to understand the test process.

What Developers need from Testers
Information
Problems found.
What will be tested.
Schedule for testing.
Status of the current test cycle.
What information testers need to work effectively.
Services
Provide timely information to Development.
Seek to understand the general process of creating software.
Seek to understand the product and it's underlying technologies.
Respond quickly to new builds.
Stay synchronized with the schedule, and don't delay the project.
Collaborate to set an appropriate standard of quality.