Testing: As automation ascends, humans play a critical role

Testing: as automation ascends, humans play a critical role

As DevOps matures, and the “shift-everything-left” philosophy gains ascendancy, there’s a movement to automate all—or most—phases of testing. However, there are some critical functions that may resist automation. In fact, contrary to the “automate-everything” impetus, human testers won’t ever go away. Indeed, human testers need to be more involved, and earlier in the development process. In this podcast, Mike Kavis and guest, Angie Jones, discuss the human aspect of testing and how humans add significant value by assessing the system as a whole, helping developers design better code, and determining the level of testing automation that should occur. Angie also shares the testing automation matrix she has developed. Finally, they cover testing of machine learning algorithms—how to prevent or reduce bias and make algorithms more effective, and the emerging field of visual testing, which uses humans to ensure that graphics-heavy apps function and appear as designed.

[Testers can] listen to the design of something and be able to poke holes in it right then and there and find bugs right there before any code is ever written. And this is the act of shifting left. So, it just means testing earlier, testing before the code is done. But, please keep your testers. You definitely need them.

Angie Jones is a senior developer advocate who specializes in test automation strategies and techniques. As a master inventor, Angie has more than 25 global patents. In her spare time, Angie volunteers with Black Girls Code to teach coding workshops to young girls in an effort to attract more women and minorities to tech.

Back to top

Realizing the transformative power of the cloud

For Cloud Professionals: Hosted by David Linthicum and designed for cloud professionals, this podcast gives you the straight talk on cloud computing. From what’s going on in the industry, the impact of cloud in the enterprise to how it can enable business transformation–it’s all covered here.

Architecting the Cloud: Get real about cloud technology with Mike Kavis on the Architecting the Cloud podcast. We’re talking about what’s new in the cloud, how to use it, and why with people in the field who have done the work.

Subscribe now on: iTunes | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify

Or visit the On Cloud library for the full collection of episodes.

Please contact cloud@deloitte.com for any inquiries around this or other previous On Cloud podcasts.

Back to top