Steve Rowe's Blog

Ruminations on Computing - Data Science, Programming, Test Development, Management and More

Scenarios and Underpants Gnomes

Data driven quality requires a certain kind of thinking. It took me a while to understand the right...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 10/20/2014

Confirmatory and Experimental Metrics

As we experiment more using data to understand the quality of our product, the proper use of...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 10/16/2014

The Data Driven Quality Mindset

"Success is not delivering a feature; success is learning how to solve the customer's...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 07/30/2014

10 Years of Blogging

I'm a little late, but it's time to celebrate anyway. Ten years ago, in March of 2004, I began...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 07/14/2014

Try.Fail.Learn.Improve

Try.Fail.Learn.Improve. That has been the signature on my e-mail for the past few months. It is...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 07/09/2014

Prerequisites to Data Driven Quality

A previous post introduced the concept of data driven quality. Moving from traditional, up-front...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 07/01/2014

Perceived vs. Objective Quality

I recently heard this story, but I can't recall who told it to me. I don’t have proof of its...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 06/23/2014

Data Driven Quality

My last three posts have explained how test lost its way. It evolved from advocates of the user to a...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 06/16/2014

Halt and Catch Fire

I just finished watching the first episode of the new AMC show called Halt and Catch Fire.  The...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 06/10/2014

A Brief History of Test

In the exploration of quality, it is important to understand where software testing came from, where...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 06/04/2014

What is Quality?

Most of my career so far has focused on software testing in one form or another. What is testing if...

Author: Steve Rowe [msft] Date: 05/29/2014

How to answer a programming interview question

I spent a few hours on Friday doing mock interviews for CS undergrads.  The idea was to help...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 04/10/2012

Behind the Scenes of Windows 8

Larry Osterman returns with another installment of his Behind the Scenes... series. This time with...

Author: Steve Rowe [msft] Date: 03/20/2012

Successfully Interviewing for a Developer Job

Having recently completed another round of campus campus interviews, several things stand out as...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/13/2012

If you ever wondered why Vim uses hjkl for arrow keys...

I tend to use Vim as my editor of choice. Even when using Visual Studio, I do so with the ViEmu...

Author: Steve Rowe [msft] Date: 03/09/2012

How to Write Your First Developer Resume

I am returning from a recruiting trip to interview students on campus.  Because of this trip, I...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/07/2012

Steve Jobs on the Value of Saying No

I ran across a great segment of Steve Jobs talking at the WWDC in 1997 just after he returned to...

Author: Steve Rowe [msft] Date: 10/06/2011

How much did Steve Jobs Mean To the Tech Industry?

This picture says it all. The front page of Hacker News is completely dominated by the news of...

Author: Steve Rowe [msft] Date: 10/05/2011

Pruning the Decision Tree in Test

Yesterday I wrote about the need to reduce the number of things a project attempted to do in order...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 09/28/2011

Follow my adventures at //build/

This week I'm attending the //build/ conference where Microsoft is revealing many of the details...

Author: Steve Rowe [msft] Date: 09/15/2011

Listening to the team

There is an old saying in software that goes something like this, “Scope, Timeframe, and...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 09/12/2011

The Sidebar is Back!

I'm apparently in the minority, but I really liked the sidebar in Windows Vista. On a widescreen...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 05/11/2010

Netcast List April 2010

It’s been a long time since I updated my netcast list, but my habits have changed a bit.  Here...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 04/29/2010

Resume Advice: List Your Classes and Projects

It is campus hiring season and I have been reading a lot of college resumes lately.  One thing...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/19/2010

Pass Rates Don’t Matter

It seems obvious that test pass rates are important.  The higher the pass rate, the better...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/17/2010

The Complexity Hammer

I’ve been doing a lot of interviewing lately, especially of college students. There is one tendency...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/16/2010

Plan Intentionally

I previously wrote about being intentional, but focused mostly on intentionality in execution. ...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 02/08/2010

Resolved: To Blog More in 2010

As the year closes I look back and see that my blogging really dropped off this past year. I intend...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 12/31/2009

A Taste of Stack Overflow DevDays

If you missed Stack Overflow DevDays, there is some audio from it available on Stack Overflow...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 11/23/2009

Design Patterns Are Not Outdated

A comment left on my answer to a question over on Stack Overflow has me a little worked up. I've...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 11/19/2009

Is there really a benefit in lossless audio formats?

Lossless codecs are all the rage amongst those who aspire to be audiophiles.  Whether it is...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 11/18/2009

A Review of a Kindle

Six months ago I purchased a Kindle 2.  I originally bought the Kindle to make travelling...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 11/13/2009

StackOverflow DevDays

I spent the day at Benaroya Hall for the 1st (annual?) StackOverflow DevDays conference. Overall...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 10/22/2009

Forging a Team Identity

For a group of coworkers to have a chance of becoming a team, they must share a common sense of...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 09/30/2009

Own the Feedback

Some time ago I was at a management training course. The group was divided into those who were...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 08/04/2009

Be Intentional

My old manager used to always say, “Be intentional.”  It took me a long time to comprehend...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 07/01/2009

Five Books To Read If You Want My Job

This came out of a conversation I had today with a few other test leads.  the question was,...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 05/27/2009

Some Programming Languages to Consider Learning

Learning a new programming language can affect the way you think. While most modern languages are...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 05/12/2009

Inbox Zero, Take Two

A year and a half ago I tried to get to “Inbox Zero” and failed.  This is the idea that you get...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 04/30/2009

Don’t Worship at the Altar of Accuracy

Earlier today I found myself faced with a common management situation.  I had been sent an...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 04/27/2009

Simple Management Tip: Tracking 1:1 Conversations

Here’s a quick tip I’ve found very handy.  When doing 1:1’s with your team (you are doing these...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 04/22/2009

Becoming a Manager: Learning to Rely on Data

Having been a manager* for a while now, I’ve learned more about what it means and what changes it...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 04/21/2009

I'll be posting on Twitter occasionally

As I surf the net I often run across articles of interest. If I feel they warrant a comment, I'll...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 04/01/2009

Review: Peopleware

The book, Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister, comes highly recommended by Joel Spolsky and...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/31/2009

Spotting the "Uncoachables"

Interesting article from Harvard talking about how to spot people who can't be coached. The author...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/25/2009

Review: The Effective Executive

I read The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker because it was highly recommend on the Manager Tools...

Author: SteveRowe Date: 03/24/2009

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