Myth #2: Testing does not, by itself, improve software quality. I love this one! I must have heard it like a gazillion times. And taken at its most literal, it is entirely correct. Huh? Yep, it's entirely literally correct. So why am I calling it a...

I've been reading a lot lately, and wow, there are so many opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of writing test automation. I thought I’d share my observations as to the common misperceptions that anyone in the software development business (engineer...

For the last several years, Microsoft has had days devoted to Engineering Excellence (EE), and to TrustWorthy Computing (TWC). Much of EE days in the last couple years have been about pushing quality upstream, which I interpret as getting more testing...

I was camping this weekend in Central Oregon. Each year my wife's father's siblings (all 8 of them) and many of their children and grandchildren get together (50 to 60 people) and go camping just outside Sweethome, Oregon, which is about 30 miles east...

From the 8th to the 14th, I travelled to Beijing to meet with 5 vendors who've been working on one of my projects for the last year. Yanchun (Tracy) Guo, who is a test lead for Microsoft in Beijing, helped me out by taking me out to lunch, and in general...

It's not sexy, but it sure is fun. Santosh recently had a great post on what it's like being in test at microsoft. For those who read my posts from last year on campus and industry recruiting at microsoft, I would encourage you to also read this to...