2025–04 My Substack Exclusive Articles
Read them on Substack.
1. Why Is a Continuous Testing Server Rarely Seen? *
DevOps is one of the hottest software buzzwords. You must have seen the following drawing (with slightly different variations).
Test automation is, of course, the foundation of DevOps, commonly referred to as Continuous Testing. The term “Ops” implies that automated tests are E2E tests. Unit and Integration testing are considered a part of coding. TDD, right?
Then, there comes a problem. How do we run automated E2E tests in a continuous process?
The CI servers, such as Jenkins, Bamboo, TeamCity, and Travis, are not good answers. Why? They are built for executing unit and integration tests, i.e., white box tests. Executing a suite of E2E (via UI) tests is a completely different game.
To qualify as a Continuous Testing Server, it must effectively address the following characteristics of E2E Testing.
- Brittle
- Long feedback time
…
2. Programming Language Advice to My Daughter, Part 3: Shell Script *
A shell script is a computer program designed to be run by the Unix/Linux shell, such as the Bourne Again SHell (Bash).
Some might think “shell scripting is too old school”. Yes, it is old-school but still remains very useful.
Shell Scripting embraces two important concepts: …
3. Programming Language Advice to My Daughter, Part 5: Wrap up and FAQ *
Over the past four articles, I shared the four programming languages I taught my daughter, in the following order: Ruby, C++, Shell Script, and Java. I understand that some readers may disagree or have questions (see FAQ below).
Many of my blog readers are software testers or engineers who appreciate objective measures. With that in mind, here are some of my daughter Courtney’s accomplishments in the three years since her university graduation:
- Secured a job at a FAANG company, the youngest (still) software engineer hired at her branch.
- Completed a first-class honours degree, studying part-time, with straight As.
- Authored a technical article every week for over two years.
- Published a press book at the age of 22.
- Promoted to Level 5.
I think my advice worked out quite well for her. Why? …
