The results of the third annual STQE magazine/StickyMinds.com salary survey give the temperature of the testing industry. Thanks to our readers' continued participation, we now have three years' worth of data and the ability to start looking for trends.

Adaptive Testing Syndrome happens when, for various reasons, test team members become blind to the idiosyncrasies of the software and even accept them as a normal part of the design. However, when a different tester, or maybe just a different set of tests, comes in contact with the software, the bugs become painfully obvious. Here's how to diagnose and avoid ATS.

Sometimes, no matter how talented you are and how hard you work, you will not be able to succeed, at least within the constraints you are handed. If your boss says you have to achieve project goals with the resources you have, what can you do? Esther Derby suggests: 1) Start by assuming that a reasonable approach will get reasonable results; 2) If your boss isn't willing or able to hear what you have to say, decide what you are willing to do; and 3) Consider what you might do differently next time.

Graphical User Interfaces make test automation hard. The problems are well known. You need specialized tools to drive the GUI. Those tools can be confused by the common programming practice of inventing custom user interface controls. When they are used in the simplest way, the tools lead to fragile tests that tend to break en masse when the GUI changes. Making the test resistant to change requires elaborate and sometimes awkward testing frameworks. Learn how to use a scripting interface to get around the GUI problem.