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Archive for the training Category

GTAC 2008 - Taming the Beast - How to Test an AJAX Application

I am in the process of watching the videos from the GTAC (Google Test Automation Conference) held in Seattle in October 2003. This post contains my notes for the presentation Taming the Beast - How to Test an AJAX Application (1 hour 1 minute) by Markus Clermont & John Thomas held on October 23, 2008.

I am not recommending spending time watching this video. The presentation is not bad. However, it does not translate well to video. There is a lot of interaction with the audience - which is great when you are present at the presentation. However, in the video the audience cannot be heard and the presenters do not repeat many of the questions / responses. In addition, the talk is misnamed. While an AJAX application is used as the example throughout the application, most of the talk is not about how to test an AJAX application. The talk is a good discussion of how to tame automation - automation of any application.

Here are the slide titles:

  • AJAX: A Different Beast
  • An Example GWT Application - (GWT = Taming the Beast - How to Test an AJAX Application)
  • Some Statistics - (At this point there are questions to the audience regarding their automated testing experience.)
  • System Architecture
  • Small Medium Large - (Essentially how much of the application is under test)
  • Testing Layer Pairs
  • Are we done?
  • Comparison
  • Conclusion

 

 

MSDN Tester Center

I came across a reference to a new online testing resource - MSDN Tester Center located at http://www.msdn.com/testercenter. The site is fairly new but I think it shows promise, especially for people new to the software testing field.

In his introduction to the site, James Whittaker says that one of the purposes of the site is to spread the testing knowledge used internally at Microsoft - especially from those people who do not necessarily speak at conferences or write papers. Having met many talented testers from Microsoft, I think this is a great idea.

As far as content, it is still pretty light - about 4 papers, a dozen videos (each about 5 minutes long) and links to a couple of blogs. But it is new and I like the intent. I will definitely be keeping an eye on it.

 

Using Humor to Explain SQL Injection

I have explained the concepts behind SQL injection dozens of times. I think I will start using the following comic as a starting point: xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe.

 

Review of ACM Online Perl Course

One of the benefits of being a member of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a variety of professional development resources online. I have taken advantage of the online book programs but not the online training. While starting a new job, I decided to refresh my perl knowledge by taking the online course “Fundamentals of Perl Programming” which is offered by SkillSoft.

As a refresher course, it was adequate. I learned perl years ago. My new company uses perl extensively, so I thought a refresher would be useful. The course pointed out some areas in which I am weak. However, the course did not provide enough depth (nor pointers to additional resources) to improve my skills in those areas.

If I were new to perl, I doubt the usefulness of the course. The course is structured such that snippets of perl syntax and converntions are presented. But there is very little overview and structure to provide guidance and tie it all together. If I did not know perl beforehand, I would not be able to write a perl program after completing the course.

There is a follow up perl course in the catalog. I am goint to take it and see if it exhibits the same issues as this first course.

 

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