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January 25-26, 2003 -- Austin, Texas
Building and Using Test Interfaces
Workshop participants were: (standing) Chris Sepulveda, Michael
Silverstein, Brian Marick, Andy Tinkham, Elisabeth Hendrickson, Cem Kaner,
(seated) Rob Mee, Bret Pettichord, and Ward Cunningham.
Call for Participation
Based on early discussions, we have decided to
broaden the scope of the workshop. We are interested in discussing various approaches for creating and utilizing
programming interfaces to product software to facilitate testing. We'll discuss IPC-based interfaces
as well as other kinds of API's, language-based interfaces,
and built-in test fixtures. If you were going to
create an interface to directly support product-level testing, what would it
look like?
Brian Marick's position paper. "It
touches on architectures to support product-level tests, the way I use
test automation to explore design, and my increasing inability to tell the
difference between acceptance and unit tests."
What interfaces should we use to test software? One
tradition uses Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), typically with GUI
testing tools. Another tradition uses the programming interfaces provided
by the methods and functions of the software under test -- often used for
unit testing. This workshop will explore other methods for providing
interfaces to software to support testing. One alternative we'll explore
is creating and utilizing interfaces for inter-process communication (IPC)
using the many interface technologies that are maturing, such as XML-RPC,
XMI, SOAP, COM, or Java RMI. A related area of interest is the the
practice of embedding interpreters into products to support testing
scripts. We are also interested in the use
of API's, test parsers, and
embedded test fixtures.
Possible topics include:
- How have you created and used such interfaces?
- What are technical challenges to creating such interfaces?
- What are social or organizational challenges to utilizing such
interfaces?
- What are the benefits and drawbacks to these
interfaces, as compared to the alternatives?
Workshop Goals
- Exchange concrete techniques and approaches regarding creating and
utilizing such interfaces.
- Encourage the development of published reference implementations.
- Understand how using such interfaces for
testing affects the roles of developers, testers and other members of a
development team.
Attending the Workshop
Participation in the workshop is by invitation based on a position
paper. The workshop is limited to 15 participants. Your position paper
should have two parts.
- Experience Report. Describe your experience using IPC or
embedded-language interfaces for testing. Relevent experience may
include other kinds of interface technologies than those listed in
this call.
- Position Statement. State something that you
think people should know. This may be a technique for providing test
interfaces, a reference implementation you would like to demonstrate, a
challenge that such interfaces may run into, or a reason for why further
investigation is warranted.
So far we have received inquiries both from
talented testers who are concerned that they may not have sufficient
technical background and from perceptive developers who are concerned
whether they will fit in. The topic of this workshop is challenging
because it deliberately cuts across traditional boundaries. We encourage
submissions from interested testers and developers who are open-minded and
interested in learning from others. We expect that some participants will
only have tangential experience with the topic under discussion.
Position papers should be between one and three pages long. After
acceptance, they will be posted to a private web site that will be
shared by other participants. Thus, a web-based format is
preferred. We can publish text, HTML and PDF. We can also generate PDF
from MS Word files.
Position papers should be submitted to Bret
Pettichord (bret@pettichord.com
). Papers will be reviewed on a rolling
basis, with replies in three days or less. The workshop website will
indicate when the workshop has been filled.
What Will Happen at the Workshop
The workshop will be organized as a moderated discussion, following
the format of the Los Altos Workshop on Software Testing
.
Participants will be selected to present particular techniques and
experiences of using test interfaces. The workshop will explore the
techniques and the conditions that favor or disfavor the technique.
We expect that subthemes will emerge from this discussion. If
suitable, we hope to for subgroups to explore these themes and report
back to the larger group.
Expenses
Participants
are responsible for own travel and lodging. The workshop expenses,
including some meals, will be covered by the workshop sponsors.
The Organizers
Bret Pettichord is the
founder of the Austin Workshops on Test Automation. He is an independent
consultant and trainer specializing in testing and test automation.
He has had several opportunities to test software using test
interfaces and would like to see more developers provide them and more
testers use them. He is co-author of Lessons Learned in Software
Testing
and editor of the TestingHotlist.com.
Brian Marick
specializes in code-based software testing. He is currently developing a
reference application that has an IPC interface for testing. He is the
author of The Craft of Software Testing
and
technical editor for STQE magazine.
Cem Kaner is professor
of Computer Sciences at Florida Tech, where he's developing a curriculum
for training test architects. He is the founder of the Los Altos Workshop
for Software Testing (LAWST), and lead author of Testing Computer
Software and Lessons Learned in Software Testing .
Time Frame
Sat Jan 25, 9 am to 5 pm
Sun Jan 26, 9 am to 3 pm
The workshop will start promptly at 9 am on Sat Jan 25. Participants
from out of town should plan to arrive the night before. There will be
a welcoming dinner on Friday Jan 24; participants are welcome to
invite family, friends and colleagues to dinner.
We expect all participants to attend for Saturday from 9 to 5 and
Sunday from 9 till noon. Prospective participants who won't be able to
attend for this time should so indicate when they submit their
position papers. Usually most participants plan to attend until 3 pm
on Sunday. We'll have the space until 5 pm; often a subgroup will be
active until then.
Location
The workshop will be located at the Homewood Suites in
Austin, Texas. We used the same location for AWTA3 and the participants
enjoyed the cozy setting.
Homewood Suites
10925 Stonelake Blvd
Austin, TX 78759
512-349-9966
Upon invitation,
mention Pettichord Consulting to get a group rate of $79 a night,
available through Jan 5.
Why Position Papers?
Previous AWTA workshops have not used position papers. Instead,
invitation was based on acquaintance, referrals, interviews and
occasionally on email exchanges. The use of position papers
formalizes this process. We have used them successfully in other
workshops and are introducing them to AWTA for the following reasons:
- Increase the pool of potential applicants. The previous method made
it difficult to invite people whom the organizers were not already
acquainted with.
- Assure understanding of workshop goals. Confusion regarding the
goal of the workshop can be identified and corrected early.
- Jump start the workshop. Traditionally, the workshop has opened
with each participant introducing him- or herself and the issues
they bring to the table. This easily takes an hour that the
position papers save. All participants are expected to have read
the position papers before the start of the workshop.
- Help plan the agenda. The workshop agenda is based on the issues
and experiences of all the participants. Getting this information
in advance -- rather than during the opening introductions -- makes
it easier for the organizers to plan an agenda that makes the most
of what the participants bring to the table.
- Set expectations regarding participant
contributions. These workshops expect some kind of contributions from
all participants. The position papers provide an example of this and
allow prospective participants to demonstrate their ability to describe
a position and share it with others. The goal of these workshops is
continued public engagement and presentation.
In short, position papers help assure that we get qualified
participation and streamline the workshop so that we can get the most
accomplished during a limited time. This policy supercedes the
previously policy whereby previous AWTA participants were
automatically invited. However, they will continue to get early
notification of the call for participation.
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