Better Software Magazine Articles

Every Crash, Everywhere

You want to know exactly what your users in the field are experiencing. In most cases, they aren’t going to take the time to tell you. Maybe the solution is automated data collection.

Joel Spolsky
Exhausting Your Test Options

In this edition of "Bug Report," Doug Hoffman tells the story of exhaustively testing a 32-bit square root function.

Doug Hoffman
A Look at the Perforce Version Control System

Using the right tools for the job is always important; with tools that become components of your software production line, it is critical. Perforce is a version control system with ready hooks for integration into bug tracking systems. The author explains the advantages of using Perforce and why you should consider it for your team.

Tom Tyler
Configuration Bugs That Bite

Bugs can creep in through the smallest crack. The problem may not necessarily be the testing, it might be your change management system. In this latest offering of Bug Report, the authors describe two techniques you can use on your project.

Kristy Hill Mike Cohn
A Look at Test Automation with Rational's RobotJ

Borrowing ideas from Robot, Rational's RobotJ focuses on automating a specific class of applications: Java and Web (HTML). RobotJ's scripts are based on a commom language (Java2), instead of yet another scripting language specific to yet another automation tool. Tom Arnold takes a look at test automation with Rational's RobotJ.

Tom Arnold
But It's a Feature!

When you file a bug report, you become a bug advocate. It's your job to follow up to see that the bug is addressed one way or another. The way you write your report influences whether the application's behavior is changed. In this issue's "Bug Report," Danny Faught gives tips on writing successful bug reports.

Danny R. Faught's picture Danny R. Faught
Surviving the Witch Hunt

A witch hunt is the search for whoever let those darned bugs out into the field. How do you stop a witch hunt? The best way is to refocus attention from "someone to blame" to "something to fix." If you focus on what in the process is causing the defects and discuss how to minimize or even eliminate the causes, you have a real chance to turn things around.

Tony Akins's picture Tony Akins
A Look at TeamTrack by TeamShare

David Lee's company needed a system to track customer support and development issues—one that had the right combination of tools and the scalability they needed to effectively address their customer needs, as well as their own internal requirements. Here is a discussion of why they chose Team Track, and an evaluation of the tool.

David S. Lee
Delivering Unwelcome News to Developers

How well you present a defect to a developer can impact when a defect is resolved–or whether it is resolved at all. Deliver the information abruptly or inappropriately, and you run the risk of alienating a person or creating project hot spots that aren't needed. Deliver news too passively, and your report may be discarded. Karen Johnson describes some ways to soften the blow so that your defects are not only acknowledged, but fixed.

Karen N. Johnson's picture Karen N. Johnson
Bug Tracking Basics

Effective bug tracking assures that bugs are logged, fixed, and verified by the appropriate personnel. Here's a beginner's guide to this process.

Mitch Allen

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