Just wanted to send the quality engineering and software testing communities a short holiday note of appreciation for all the work you do.
Testing software is hard. Very hard. And not unlike plumbers, your effort is frequently not appreciated when things are working and first to be criticized when things go wrong.
Years ago I wrote a post trying to define why I like the business of software testing and specifically working with testers and why our work is so difficult.
“Testers spend their days trying to figure out what “might” go wrong by looking for ways a product is already broken – staring into the cosmic abyss of the impossibility of complete testing for all of us takes it toll. All the while competing in an industry teeming with unenlightened vendors, consultants and “experts” undermining their own value proposition by selling “bug free” methodologies, certified super-tester training programs and “automated algorithmic defect predictonators”.”
It doesn’t have to be like this, but it is, and there are lots of us fighting every day to make life better for testers while you make our systems safer, more reliable, and more equitable for the people who use them.
So from me, to you, thank you for all your hard work and know that I see it and appreciate it, even if a lot the world always doesn’t.
Wishing you a happy holiday season and great New Year.
Cheers!