Opening Keynote: Blunders in Test Automation
summary
Argues that testing tools don't test and only execute checks, not interpret results, so automation must target repeatable clerical work and not try to replace human investigation. Cites an analysis where 9.3% of bugs are found by automated tests versus 58% found by exploratory testing, highlights a two‑layer testware architecture, recommends regular refactoring (sprint every six months), and shows patterns, books, and a wiki as concrete artifacts and practices that reduce maintenance and make automation actually usable.
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chapters (24)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:50Blunders
- 1:19Testing Tools
- 2:17People
- 3:36Tasks
- 4:44Goals
- 5:35Regression Testing
- 6:35Finding Bugs
- 7:39Experiences of Test Automation
- 9:24Differences between Effectiveness and Efficiency
- 10:39The Silver Bullet Solution
- 11:53The Best Tool
- 12:48The Silver Bullet
- 14:06Should we be automating
- 18:03Test Architecture
- 21:49Video Clip
- 25:35Tools will replace testers
- 27:41Testing is more than test execution
- 28:41When should you write automated tests
- 30:59Test automation is not a project
- 32:38We want to have automated testing
- 33:44Isolation from change
- 39:17Summary
- 41:08New book
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