Quick Question: Who Said That?
February 28th, 2007
Filed under Ruminations
(Yes, I know I should be writing about the DT/TD Summit. Still sorting my brain out. And preparing for an upcoming trip, working on my materials. Thus my current puzzle…)
I’m seeking the sources for some quotes I’ve been using. In each case, I’m reasonably certain I heard a speaker use the phrase in a talk at a conference. Alas, I can’t remember the speaker. Even if I could, the phrase may not have been original to that person.
Can you help me out? Do you know who said any of these things? If so, please drop me a note in the comments. Please? I use these phrases, and I’d like to be attributing them correctly. It bugs me that I have to say “I don’t know who said this, it’s not original to me, but I think it’s really useful” each time I use these phrases.
“Testability = Visibility + Control” I find this to be a useful definition that suggests ways to improve testability by creating more/better mechanisms for seeing what the software is doing and controlling its actions.
“If it hurts…do more of it.” I like counter-intuitive advice that works. In this case, I find this works because doing something painful over and over puts you in a better position to figure out why it hurts and how to make the pain go away. Sometimes the answer is to automate the process, in which case having done it a lot helps. And sometimes just doing the thing - whatever it is - over and over will help you identify the core essense and eliminate all the other extraneous stuff.
“Agile development delivers a continuous stream of value.” I like this description of Agile because it provides a nice way to contrast the results of using Agile methods with Phased approaches and also with lip-service chaotic Agile that isn’t actually Agile at all. Bottom Line: If the process does not result in the delivery of a continuous stream of shippable software that’s of value to the business, the process isn’t Agile. Further, anyone with a business background can understand why a continuous stream of value has the high probability of providing a greater return on investment than an uncertain big payoff at some nebulous point in the future.
So…who said these things? Please help me out…
8 Comments
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Feb 28, 2007
5:51 pm
I’m pretty sure the first one is Pettichord.
My gut reaction on the second was James Whittaker, but as I think about it, I’m not so sure (sorry).
No idea on the last one (sorry again).
Feb 28, 2007
6:19 pm
I first heard the Testability quote from Bret.
Feb 28, 2007
7:59 pm
I also go with Bret for #1. [http://www.google.com/search?q=testability.*.visibility.*.control]
James Whittaker says something similar to #2, but it’s in a different context. His emphasis is on probing for weaknesses in the SUT: if it hurts [the app], do it more. He says that is why good testers would make bad doctors.
#3 sounds like Mary Poppendieck to me, though I can’t point to a definite instance.
Feb 28, 2007
11:21 pm
#1 comes from me, I think. Bret heard this view from me while he was writing his article. I presented my testability model sometime around 1994. You’ll find it in the appendices of my RST class.
It’s possible that I got the idea from Randall Jensen, who wrote a book full of “ilities” in the mid-eighties while I was forming my own thoughts.
Mar 01, 2007
7:38 am
Isn’t “Agile development delivers a continuous stream of value.” from the declaration of interdependence?
Mar 01, 2007
8:07 am
AHA! Matthew Heusser pointed me in the right direction for #3, “continuous stream of value.” The Declaration of Interdependence at http://pmdoi.org/ says “We increase return on investment by making continuous flow of value our focus.” (That’s why I couldn’t find it with Google…I got stuck on the word “stream.”)
So that’s one definitive reference down. I’ll look at James’ course notes later today to find a definitive reference for Testability = Visibility + Control (thanks James!).
That just leaves #2. Who said “If it hurts…do more of it.” ?
Mar 01, 2007
11:22 am
#2 is a restatement of an XP idea: if something is painful you should do it more often until it isn’t painful any more. (One of the ideas behind continuous integration.)
I’m not sure who first said it but Mike Cannon-Brooks someone quoting someone (me?) quoting it.
http://blogs.atlassian.com/rebelutionary/archives/2006/10/citcon_london_2.html
May 24, 2007
8:04 am
I’m pretty sure the specific catchy phrase in 1 is Bret’s (as is the immortal “a bug is anything that bugs someone”), but the idea has been around since before recorded history (e.g., the founding of Google). I used the same formulation on p. 206 of Craft (1994):
(God, it’s embarrassing to look back at that book.)
I am quite sure that I got the idea from someone else. I have a vague memory of talking with Keith Stobie about it in the early 1990’s. I think it was in the air.