Software Testing Blog

I recently returned from a short and relaxing vacation to Iceland.  It’s a beautiful country and well worth visiting for anyone looking to travel to a place that’s both modern and rugged at the same time.  The scenery is extraordinary and the people are all very friendly.

Now that I’m back, I thought I would write six testing lessons that I learned while in Iceland:

1.) Read the Guide!

Even though Iceland is a small country, it’s absolutely critical for anyone traveling there to first read the travel guides.  Many of Iceland’s roads are unpaved, poorly maintained, or worse.  Without reading the guides, you could end up fording a deep river or sliding through the muck in a Toyota Corolla.  Vehicle loss due to “floating downstream” is not covered by many rental agreements.

Software testing is exactly the same.  Do your homework on a release by reading the release details, testing guides, known bugs, etc.  That way you won’t end up with a flat tire in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road last used by Viking explorers.

2.) Take a Tour

In his recent webinar about Revolutionizing Your QA, James Whittaker proposed thinking about software testing as “tours“, much like one would take a tour through a foreign country.  Here are a few tour ideas in the spirit of Iceland:

• The Ring Road – The Ring Road is Iceland’s major highway.  It circles the country, connecting most of the major towns and villages together.  For this tour, test the features everyone uses the most and that are the most critical to the application.
• The Interior – Iceland’s interior is a challenging and difficult place to visit.  With almost no vegetation, it’s mostly covered by glaciers, volcanoes, and rocks.  For this tour, go where no tester has gone before. Test the loneliest and most forgotten features that are only accessible to the brave.
• Heimaey – The Icelandic island of Heimaey is known for two things: fishing and its little problem with volcanoes.  In 1973, the entire island was evacuated after massive cracks formed in the ground spewing lava and ash everywhere – eventually forming the volcano Eldfell.  Take a tour of your users’ worst nightmare problems and make sure everything works correctly.

3.) Language Testing is Important

The Icelandic language is similar to many other German and Scandanavian languages, which also makes it a distant relative of English.  However, it’s also very unique.  For example, Icelandic is the only language in the world that still uses the letter thorn – Þ or þ.  It’s also one of the few languages to still use eth - Ð or ð.  Both of these letters have been replaced with the “th” sound in English, but to an Icelander they are as much a part of their alphabet as the letters a, b, and c.

Language testing is critical for any language.  That’s true for translation or just making sure all the important letters display properly.  And even if your application happens to display Unicode characters just fine, consider this: In the Icelandic alphabet, the letter ‘o’ appears in the same place as the English alphabet, and the letter ‘ó’ appears next alphabetically.  But the letter ‘ö’ is considered a completely different letter and actually appears at the very end of the alphabet.  That matters a lot for things like sorting and alphabetizing.

4.) The Sun Always Sets…Sometimes

In most countries, we take the daily rising and setting of the sun for granted.  It’s light during the day and dark at night.  However in Iceland, they live with the midnight sun for half the year.

Shake up your assumptions and try to approach software testing from multiple world views.  Your application may not care if the sun always rises, but many bugs can depend on all kinds of false assumptions about the world.  Take this story about one of the early flights of the F-22 jet fighter.  On their first flight across the Pacific Ocean, their flight computers crashed when they reached the international date line because nobody had thought about what happens when you cross it (you add or subtract a day, depending on travel direction).

5.) Volcanoes Lurk Under Glaciers

Volcanoes and glaciers can both be trouble.  Volcanoes can suddenly erupt, releasing hot lava and dangerous gases.  Glaciers can suddenly melt, creating floods and icebergs.  Sometimes, however, a volcano can erupt underneath a glacier creating sudden super-floods and devastation.  The river Skeiðará is particularly dangerous, once even destroying the Ring Road with massive icebergs.

In your testing, think about how two problems can combine to create one super problem.  Security testing in particular requires this kind of thinking because several small bugs can often combine to become one big security bug.

6.) Get to Know the Locals

I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know the people in Iceland.  I learned a lot about their country and heard some great stories as well.  Get to know your users!  They’re probably great people who have some stories and ideas for you too.

Have you learned any great testing lessons from your travels?  Post them in the comments below!