Software Testing Blog

In the third and final installment of our Testing the Limits interview with Ben Simo, we go back in time to the early 90s to find out how and why he entered the testing profession. We also rapid fire some questions on his browser of choice, his hardware preferences, hobbies and more. In case you missed them, here’s part I and part II.

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uTest: Let’s go back in time for a second: How did you get into the craft? What was the first application you tested? What was testing like back in the early 90s?

Simo: Providence. It was providence that got me into testing.

I was young, in love, and planning to get married.  I had been doing some part time database development work, but needed a full time job before the wedding.  I submitted letters and resumes to dozens of companies. I was willing to do almost anything that would pay the rent.  I lived in a city where the local job market was dominated by defense contractors. I quickly learned that many of them called nearly everyone who applied for anything in for an interview; so they could learn about people and add them to databases of potential hires for matching to work they did not yet have.  These companies would then present these people to the government as their available workforce when bidding on contracts. This made it frustrating for those of us looking for work. It often wasn’t clear, when going in for an interview, if it was for a real job or for a potential position that might come at some time in the future if that company were to be awarded a government contract.

I interviewed with the company for which my fiancé (now my wife of 19 years) Sophie worked. It appeared to be one of those information gathering interviews without an actual position to fill. I was asked a lot of questions but none seemed related to a specific opening.  At the end of the interview, the interviewer said he’d be calling me.  Time went by without any more contact. Nearly a month later, I got a call asking if I could start the next morning.

I was one of a handful of people hired to work as “data collectors”; to execute tests and collect results for an interoperability demonstration of digital imagery systems.  These systems, from a variety of different vendors, were used by the military for manipulating and exchanging digital photographs.  This test was the second phase of an effort to validate a new communications protocol standard. Our mission was to assess to what extent systems made by different companies could exchange information over a variety of communications systems. We were given a huge matrix of imagery systems and communications equipment (from encrypted telephones to push-to-talk radios) combinations to test. We quickly learned that this required we learn the communications systems, the imagery systems, and the protocol used to exchange data.  I enjoyed this challenge. By the end of the project, I found myself in the role of being the writer of the test report and numerous interface documents. I also learned that I enjoyed testing.

If I hadn’t received that call which led to becoming a tester, I would have likely taken a job as a pay telephone technician. We all know how cell phones have since killed the pay telephone business.

So, what was testing like in the early 90s?  For me, working for an independent fee-for-service testing organization, it was a great learning experience.  I learned that my role as a tester was to help our clients produce better products; not to just pass or fail their products.  I learned that every company followed different development and testing practices – regardless of what labels they gave them.  I learned to seek guidance from others who could mentor me. I learned that continual learning is essential in testing. I learned that testing is a better assessment tool than an assurance tool. I learned to plan and script testing only to the level of detail that made sense; understanding that some detail cannot be known up front.  I learned that testing is exploratory in nature.  I learned to communicate with stakeholders and developers. I learned that the real requirements aren’t necessarily the things documented in a technical requirements document.  I learned to create tools to help me accomplish tedious tasks and enable doing things I could not do manually. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I was becoming a context-driven tester.

After nearly a decade, I moved to working for commercial software development firms — with fear and trepidation.  I wasn’t sure that my skills would transfer to being an in-house tester. I soon discovered that they transferred well.  I spent a short time with some misguided “quality cop” thinking after I was given a “Quality Assurance” title before better understanding and returning to my context-driven roots.

Rapid Fire Q&A:

• Favorite movie of all time: My favorite movie of all time would have to be “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope”. It is both one of my earliest and favorite childhood movie memories, and I still love it

• Favorite movie… that’s about testing or taught you something about testing: I don’t know about it being a favorite, but “Man of the Year” comes to mind. The movie was disappointing in that it wasn’t the comedy it was advertised to be; and the software “bug” on which the plot was based made little technical sense; however, it illustrates the potential risks of software not working as it should – either due to oversight or ill intent.

• Mac or PC: Commodore. I still do everything on my Commodore 64. Seriously, I’m a PC. I’ve not used a Mac in over 15 years.

• Browser of choice: I’ve recently come to like Chrome for most of my personal browsing. However, I prefer Firefox for testing. There are many cool add-in tools for Firefox.

• Brand of smartphone: Motorola Droid X. After seven years of using Windows Mobile devices, I just switched to Android.

• Favorite US president (no fair picking Millard Fillmore… he’s my fav): Teddy Roosevelt. I can’t help but love an adventurer.

• Top tech innovator of all-time (Edison, Gates, Jobs, Andreesen, et al): Apart from the modern computer, Thomas Edison has likely had a great impact on humanity.  So, if I had to pick only one, I’d say Edison. When it comes to computers, Charles Babbage and Steve Wozniak come to mind. The ideas of Charles Babbage led to the programmable computers we have today. And Steve Wozniak was essential in making computers personal and bringing them into our homes

• Best concert you’ve ever seen in person: I haven’t been to a real concert in over 20 years. However, I have fond memories of Barry McGuire sitting on the edge of a stage singing songs to the last couple hundred stragglers who remained.after someone else’s concert.

• Hobby that would surprise our readers: Since I recently quit my job and am looking for new work, I could say that software testing is now a hobby for me. It will hopefully be paying work again, real soon. I could call my obsession with old programming books a hobby. I collect and read old programming and testing books to better understand the history of software development.

Photography and exploring Colorado are two things I could also call hobbies; but those won’t surprise anyone who follows me on Twitter. Also, we’ve got a bit of a zoo at our house with cats, dogs, and fish. That too should not be a surprise.

What may be a surprise is that I’m a recovering collector of NASCAR die cast cars. Yes, I was once an addict with new cars regularly arriving in the mail.  I’ve now been clean, and not added any new cars to my collection, for well nearly two years.

uTest: If Al Gore had never invented the inter-web and software testing didn’t exist… what would you be doing for a living?

Simo: I’d likely be a starving photographer. When I was eighteen, I was considering pursuing a career in computer programming or photography.  My father advised me that he’d encountered more starving photographers than computer programmers. So, I pursued software over photography.

Editor’s note: We hope you enjoyed our Testing the Limits interview with Ben Simo. Who should be our next guest? You tell us.