Designed for executives and organizational leaders, this highly-interactive, hands-on course will teach you what you need to know to successfully implement agile and DevOps in your organization.
Conference Schedule
Sunday, April 28
Explore agile testing processes in this interactive course designed for dev and testing roles. Learn technical and team skills testers need for success, as well as key agile testing techniques. Successful attendees earn the ICAgile Certified Professional—Agile Testing (ICP-TST) designation and can optionally sit for the ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level—Agile Tester (CTFL-AT) exam.
Learn how the Plan-Driven and Agile development approaches differ in terms of timing, depth, and documentation in this three-day, hands-on course. Leave with a flexible requirements development approach and the skills needed to successfully discover, analyze, communicate, and evaluate requirements.
Learn how to achieve a consensus on important test strategy issues such as resource allocation, risk prioritization, automation, and more. This course is appropriate for Test Managers, Test Leads, and experienced testers tasked with developing testing strategy for their organization.
- Discuss the importance of corporate culture and the economics of test and failure
- Learn proven test planning methods and techniques
- Learn to create customized Master Test Plans and Level-specific plans
- Explore the issues that affect the test strategy ...
Explore the many ways automation supports agile testing in this course with real-world, vendor-neutral examples of agile test automation approaches and tools.
Explore security testing in an interactive workshop setting. This course is appropriate for software development and testing professionals who want to begin doing security testing as part of their assurance activities.
Accredited training for the ISTQB® Advanced Tester Certification—Test Automation Engineer (CTAL-TAE) certification. This course utilizes practical exercises to reinforce learning, strengthen understanding, and prepare participants for the exam.
Monday, April 29
Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) is a set of pragmatic practices that prioritizes our focus on the behaviors we want to develop. Why? Users get value out of good behaviors. If we focus on developing high-quality features that users want, then everything else falls into place. In the first half of this workshop, we will explore behaviors for an example product using a group activity called Example Mapping. Then, in the second half, we will refine all the scenarios for those behaviors by writing Gherkin "Given-When-Then" scenarios that follow the Arrange-Act-Assert pattern. Through these...Read more
AI has been rapidly changing the way we approach software testing. Traditional test automation is time-consuming to create and breaks down easily in the presence of change. Thankfully, AI is helping testing teams create less procedural, more resilient tests that are able to self-heal in the presence of modern, rapidly changing, highly dynamic production systems. This sounds great, but you may be asking yourself: How do I get started? What additional skills do I need to learn? What tools are available for me to start using, right now? Join Dionny Santiago as he breaks down different AI...Read more
Do you want to take your testing and/or development skills to the next level? Are you working in an agile team where you are trying to shift-left so that your organization can reap the full benefits of testing earlier? In software testing, you're generally taught to think outside the box, from a user's perspective. However, sometimes great ideas can be sparked from inside the box, by looking at the underlying code and using that knowledge to identify various ways to break the software. Join Tariq King as he walks through the fundamentals of program-based testing so that you can find bugs...Read more
Many organizations invest a lot of effort in test automation at the system level but then have serious problems as their product matures and changes over time. As a leader, how can you ensure that your new automation efforts will get off to a good start? What can you do to ensure that your automation work provides continuing added value? Chris Loder will explain the critical issues you need to know to get a good start, and he will share his extensive experience in building great automation. He covers the most important management issues you should address for test automation success,...Read more
Ever struggled to communicate test progress or persuade a stakeholder on the quality improvement initiative you have? Do you struggle getting developers to appreciate the need to build testing into the lifecycle? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then this session is for you. Julie Gardiner shares key ingredients for getting your message across more effectively. She shares a communication model she has used for nearly 20 years in her career to get her message across and, more recently, how the science of timing can play a major part of how communication is received. Through...Read more
Modern software is developed in a continuous manner, with several backend services frequently being deployed and scaled in the cloud. Furthermore, as organizations move toward agile, DevOps, and continuous delivery, it is vital for them to move away from traditional approaches to evaluate performance. Are you interested in ramping up or polishing your skills on performance testing? Leandro Melendez will introduce attendees to modern, agile, and continuous performance testing. You’ll learn performance assurance principles and everything from fundamental performance concepts like correlation...Read more
When it comes to software quality, data and metrics are essential for making informed decisions. However, not all KPI metrics are created equal. In fact, many common KPI metrics can become myths that do more harm than good. In this tutorial, Lisette draws on her experience to debunk the QA KPI myths and share practical strategies for making KPI metrics great again. She will discuss how to determine the purpose of QA KPIs for your organization's needs and how to adapt KPI metrics to your organization's culture—exploring practical QA KPI metrics that bring value to everyone in the...Read more
In the era of DevOps, agile methodologies, and the ever-expanding landscape of intricate technologies, the traditional bulky test automation strategy document has rapidly lost its relevance. Testers are grappling with the challenge of succinctly communicating intricate testing objectives. Yet, a beacon of optimism shines through! A streamlined, actionable, and impactful test automation strategy tailored for agile, DevOps, and even the notorious waterfall approach is within reach. Join Janna as she draws upon real-world test strategies from her experience, deconstructing the essential...Read more
With the advent of DevOps, Agile, and ever-increasing complex technologies under test, the classic, the bloated test strategy document has quickly become outdated. Many testers struggle to understand how to convey complex testing tasks concisely. However, there is hope! There is a way to create a concise, actionable, and useful test strategy for Agile, DevOps, and even the dreaded Waterfall! Janna and Adam will leverage real-world test strategies that they have used and will break down the critical components and detail out how to create a test strategy, no matter what development style...Read more
Software development is trending toward building systems using small, autonomous, independently deployable microservices. Leveraging microservices makes it easier to release software early, more frequently, and even continuously, which aligns well with Agile and DevOps. But how does the microservices architectural pattern affect software testing and testability? How can you ensure microservice-based applications have an adequate level of test coverage at each level? Does this paradigm change the test automation pyramid, and if so what does that look like? Join Tariq King as he walks...Read more
In many teams, the total number of possible combinations of inputs, outputs, browsers, and devices for the software we need to test has grown to an alarming number. As testers, we need to choose the most important tests first, but how do we do that without understanding the potential scope in the first place? In this tutorial, Julie Gardiner will share two powerful testing techniques that can help us be more efficient and effective with our testing. Classification trees are a structured, visual approach to identifying test objects and documenting test ideas and data in a way that allows...Read more
The DevOps movement is here. Companies across many industries are breaking down siloed IT departments and federating them into product development teams. Testing and its practices are at the heart of these changes. Traditionally, IT organizations have been staffed with mostly manual testers and a limited number of automation and performance engineers. To keep pace with development in the new “you build it, you own it” environment, testing teams and individuals must develop new technical skills and even embrace coding to stay relevant and add greater value to the business. DevOps really...Read more
Automation is critical in today’s software delivery lifecycle, and yet many organizations struggle to keep their automation running. How can we mitigate difficulties and get consistent automation runs and results we can trust? The secret is implementing a solid automation framework, but that isn’t as easy as it seems. Chris Loder has built several automation frameworks over his career and has learned what works—and, more importantly, what doesn’t. This tutorial will cover what an automation framework is, the benefits of having one, and the keys to a successful framework, including...Read more
Companies of all sizes face difficulties in achieving higher quality standards within their organization. As quality engineering includes various roles and activities, it is also challenging to find the right people to analyze the current state from a wide perspective and provide the recommendations that will allow these organizations to mature their teams, improving their DevOps culture in the process. Join Péter Földházi as he illustrates the knowledge and skills necessary to become your company's quality consultant. Péter's goal is to involve engineers from beginner to advanced levels...Read more
Observability has exploded onto the software engineering zeitgeist over the last five years, and for a good reason. However, it suffers from being misunderstood and sometimes equated with a closely related subject—monitoring. This confusion is compounded by the fact that some of the existing tools and frameworks just adopted a lot of the observability terminology in just the letter of the word, not the intent. Not having a solid grasp on the basics of observability is becoming unacceptable in the world of effective software quality engineering. Kaushal Dalvi shares his experiences in the...Read more
Tuesday, April 30
This is a workshop for those of you that have done some sort of scripting or automation before. It’s a workshop where we’ll write a simple test agent using Python for sending traffic to a centralized REST API. You’ll follow up by creating 10,000 items of random test objects for offline test data. You’ll spin up server instances in the AWS cloud using Python. And finally, to top it all off, you’ll deploy your test agent and test data in cloud instances spread out over the four corners of the world, all of them generating simultaneous test traffic toward a single REST API where you’ll all...Read more
Whether you are new or experienced with GitHub this class is for you! Supercharging your workflow caters to anyone who wants to enhance their Agile and DevOps process with the capabilities of GitHub. GitHub has long been the premier site for open-source projects and is now turning a pivotal corner into becoming the predominant platform for all aspects of the development lifecycle. Some examples of this include; protecting company code through various GitHub Products or curating marketplace actions and workflows prior to use. This tutorial will look at how to leverage GitHub Actions (CI/CD...Read more
Although there are several controversies and misunderstandings surrounding AI and machine learning, one thing is apparent — people have quality concerns about the safety, reliability, and trustworthiness of these types of systems. Not only are ML-based systems shrouded in mystery due to their largely black-box nature, they also tend to be unpredictable since they can adapt and learn new things at runtime. Validating ML systems is challenging and requires a cross-section of knowledge, skills, and experience from areas such as mathematics, data science, software engineering, cyber-security...Read more
API testing has become more and more popular as service-oriented architectures have become common. In addition, testing at the API level can be effectively automated to provide maintainable regression tests that work well in a DevOps process. In this tutorial, Jeffery Payne discusses what API testing is all about and how it is effectively done. Techniques and tools are discussed that highlight where in the testing process API testing makes the most sense to perform. Various open source and commercial tools will be demonstrated and the pros and cons of various solutions discussed. Effective...Read more
To be most effective, leaders—including development and testing managers, ScrumMasters, product owners, and IT managers—need metrics to help direct their efforts and make informed recommendations about the software’s release readiness and associated risks. Because one important evaluation activity is to “measure” the quality of the software, the progress and results of both development and testing must be measured. Collecting, analyzing, and using metrics are complicated because developers and testers often are concerned that the metrics will be used against them. Join Jeff Pierce as he...Read more
Web applications are often security critical or serve as front-ends for security critical applications, making web testing for vulnerabilities an essential part of software testing. Unfortunately, most software testers have not been taught how to identify web security issues while testing applications. Join Tom Stiehm as he shares what you need to know to security test web-based applications as part of your overall testing process. Learn about the most common web security vulnerabilities and how they are introduced into web code and exploited by hackers. Explore test techniques for...Read more
Agile teams are burdened with the challenge of delivering working product increments after short iterations of development. Getting software from an ambiguous terse, incomplete requirement–to a done, working, solid, valuable, high-quality code requires testers to continuously adapt to change in a turbulent context and deliver actionable results. Chris Blain will illustrate how charter-driven session-based exploratory testing techniques can empower agile teams and help them learn quickly and adapt based on what really matters. Testers can design and execute tests on the fly as they explore...Read more
Driving a culture of quality starts with effective communication. Join Stacy Kirk and Erika Chestnut to unlock your communication superpowers! Imagine a cheat code that helps us boost productivity and team vibes by 10x. We will leverage behavior self-assessments to help discover your unique strengths, communication styles, and reactions to challenges. Stacy and Erika will help you learn to communicate effectively with your team, management, and cross-functional teams to build a culture of quality. You will learn to assess how others best receive and process information and how to...Read more
Everybody gets frustrated when web apps are broken, but testing them thoroughly doesn’t need to be a chore. Playwright, a new open-source browser automation tool from Microsoft, makes testing web apps fun! Playwright offers a slew of nifty features like automatic waiting, mobile emulation, and network interception. Plus, with isolated browser contexts, Playwright tests can set up much faster than traditional Web UI tests. In this session, we will automate concise yet robust web app tests for a Kanban board web app with Playwright in TypeScript. You'll learn to test modern web apps of any...Read more
With the sudden rise of ChatGPT and large language models (LLMs), professionals have been attempting to use these types of tools to improve productivity. Building off prior momentum in AI for testing, software quality professionals are leveraging LLMs for creating tests, generating test scripts, automatically analyzing test results, and more. However, if LLM's are not fed good prompts describing the task that the AI is supposed to perform, their responses can be inaccurate and unreliable, thereby diminishing productivity gains. Join Tariq King as he teaches you how to craft high-quality AI...Read more
Leading and driving change in our companies, organizations, and teams can be as difficult as pushing a wet rope uphill! Even with the best processes and tools, we may not achieve our business and customer satisfaction goals when our environment is stuck in the status quo. Ultimately, transforming an organization is about changing culture. Our values, beliefs, goals, assumptions, purpose, priorities, and other factors influence culture. Test managers and leaders are critical players in driving cultural change. Mike Sowers will explore the key attributes of being a Test Transformation Leader...Read more
In many organizations, agile development processes are driving the pursuit of faster software releases, which has spawned a set of new practices—DevOps. DevOps stresses communications and integration between development and operations, including rapid deployment, continuous integration, and continuous delivery. Because DevOps practices require confidence that changes made to the code base will function as expected, automated testing is essential. Join Jeffery Payne as he discusses the unique challenges associated with integrating automated testing into continuous integration/continuous...Read more
With the advent of frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue, the landscape of application performance has changed significantly in terms of testing and measurement. Gone are the days of measuring response time as a single value based on back-end performance. In modern web and mobile applications, additional layers need to be peeled apart at the front end to truly understand its performance characteristics. Traditional approaches to performance testing are no longer sufficient to provide a delightfully responsive user experience. Join Kaushal Dalvi as he details new developments in the...Read more
Avoiding siloed development is a tricky business. It’s so easy for agile teams to fall into the rut of testers only doing traditional testing activities and programmers strictly doing their time-worn coding activities. But there are actually many places testers can be influential and contribute value on cross-functional teams. Robert Sabourin will share several examples of how testing skills can be applied to a wide variety of activities in an agile project. For instance, testers are among the most skilled team members in story grooming, elicitation, and exploration. Risk analysis in self-...Read more
Imagine: as soon as any developed functionality is submitted into the code repository, it is automatically subjected to the appropriate battery of tests and then released straight into the wild. Setting up the pipeline to do just that has become commonplace, but most organizations hit the same stumbling block: just what IS the appropriate battery of tests? Automated build pipelines don't always lend themselves well to the traditional stages of testing. In this hands-on tutorial, Melissa will introduce testers to the key principles of test case and test suite design that apply to...Read more
The web has evolved. Finally, testing has too. Cypress is a modern testing tool that answers the testing needs of modern web applications. It has been gaining a lot of traction in the last couple of years, gaining worldwide popularity. If you have been waiting to learn Cypress, wait no more! Filip Hric will guide you through the first steps on how to start using Cypress and set up a project on your own. The good news is, learning Cypress is incredibly easy. You’ll write your first test in no time, and then you’ll discover how to write a full end-to-end test for a modern web application....Read more
Wednesday, May 1
The next era of testing is here, and it's crazy fast. So fast, it would no doubt infuriate those who are not ready for it. In this talk, Stacy will discuss how testing professionals should build a responsive culture without sacrificing quality or customer experience to speed. She will detail how automation and AI must be incorporated into the new industry standard. Stacy will address how expanding our impact to areas like Data Quality, FinOps, and Ethics will usher in faster advances for business value. She will define how productivity has been and should be measured so that teams...Read more
The beautiful Hungarian city of Budapest seems to be characterized by bridging gaps and building connections. Two diverse parts of the city, Buda and Pest, are separated by the Danube river, which gave them the opportunity to be connected by the iconic Chain Bridge. Budapest is also the birthplace of one of the most brilliant and influential scientists of the 20th century, John von Neumann. Neumann made significant contributions that “bridged” multiple areas including mathematics, physics, economics and computer science. In the software world, you may have already heard the name “Földházi...Read more
AI is rapidly transforming the way technology gets built, delivered, and tested. Groundbreaking products like ChatGPT have become game changers in every industry, and quality assurance is no exception. As large language models (LLMs) and other AI technologies continue to evolve, they will transform the way we deliver virtually every application and technology: think web, mobile, desktop, packaged apps, and more. AI is the way of the future, and it’s coming fast – to transform how we work, strengthen our ingenuity, and improve our results.
In this session Brad Purcell, Sr. Director...Read more
In this session we discuss the practicla approaches companies can take to effectively automate their teste execution. In particular we will look at:
the evolution of test automation frameworks the pros and cons of building your own test grid the pros and cons of buying a commercial test gridRead moreLet’s be real, we are quite a ways out from AI taking over the world. AI doomsday apologists stay home! On the other hand, AI is changing everything about software creation. In this presentation, Kevin Pyles will take you on a walk down memory lane through waterfall, agile and DevOps practices, and will then introduce you to the future of software creation known as AI-Partnered Development. Let’s get practical with real-world examples of AI assisting designers, solving coding challenges and testing software right next to human testers. We will explore how AI is also involved today in...Read more
Christina Thalayasingam often stumbles upon memes that show testers celebrating when they find a bug. Painting a picture that testers thrive on “proving developers wrong”. This is upsetting. The mindset that the quality of the product is owned by someone with a testing-specific role and user empathy is only something related to product and design, still prevails. She manages an engineering team and comes from a background that strongly values function and non-functional testing. However, she is a developer. Her team believes in quality and that there is no segregation on who owns the...Read more
API Testing is a critical component of modern software development, ensuring the reliability and functionality of applications programing interfaces. However, integrating API testing into a robust CI/CD pipeline poses unique challenges with maintaining consistency and accuracy in test results across various environments and versions of the API. Changes in API endpoints, data formats, or authentication methods often result in test failures that will be difficult to trace and troubleshoot. To address these challenges, API versioning and automated API testing needs to be implemented. This...Read more
In the ever-evolving landscape of agile software development, metrics have emerged as crucial navigational tools, guiding teams towards their goals. However, amid the brilliance of metrics lies a hidden, often misunderstood, and potentially perilous side. As we explore the uncharted side of metrics, we will unveil the misconceptions, pitfalls, and clandestine dangers lurking behind agile metrics. Delve into real-world scenarios where the relentless pursuit of vanity metrics led to the accrual of technical debt, an increase in defect density, and the demoralization of once-thriving...Read more
Have you ever found yourself at a time when you have no control over an internal or external service and while your automation was running it failed due to instability in that service? Well, to automate tests in a safe and reliable way, you need to have control of the environment. When not available, one option is to isolate your application by creating mocks of the services. In this talk, Júlio will go through a use case scenario using Mountebank (mbtest.org), an open-source tool that enables us to create HTTP mocks, to remove the dependencies related to an external HTTP service in order...Read more
What do you think about when you hear the words "test automation"? Are you considering developing your own tools to help you probe the product deeply, or will you apply a commercial tool for automated checking? Are you excited by new, powerful, enabling technologies, or do you worry that a robot will replace you? One thing is for sure: when we apply tools, we fundamentally change the context and the nature of the work we do. Our panelists are software testing experts who will discuss all this and more with you! Together, we'll probe what people mean by automation, the power that tools can...Read more
Now testing bots are joining the QA team, it is time to talk about how we train them for maximum impact on software quality. Depending on your particular bot you will have two choices, ML or Supervised ML. In this session, we are going to talk about "3T", the Three Training Tasks for autonomous testing success. Join me for an interactive session where we can see the bots asking questions and reacting to the live training they are getting.Read more
AI is not just another technology or trend. The future of testing and quality management is shifting toward AI-powered software delivery. With 57% of executives identifying improved speed to market as a generative Al benefit, the businesses of tomorrow need to be flexible and in tune with new and emerging best practices to stay ahead of their competitors without compromising quality or value. Are you prepared?
Join OpenText’s Michael O’Rourke as he leads a discussion of how to harness the power of next-generation AI, level up application delivery, and reimagine the future of...Read more
This session goes beyond AI's role in testing, showcasing its transformative impact on the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
Join Frank Moyer, CTO of Kobiton, as he empowers attendees with tools and knowledge to integrate AI into daily workflows. Discover how AI intersects with various roles, from UI Designers to Developers and Test Analysts, offering innovative solutions to enhance software quality and accelerate delivery. Through practical examples and actionable insights, Frank will demonstrate that quality is a collective responsibility achievable through AI...Read more
Join Melissa as she explores the fusion of AI and quality assurance in software development. Discover how AI-generated requirements can revolutionize testing strategies, enhancing application quality. She will cover AI's role in requirements generation, and you will learn how AI automates the creation of diverse use case scenarios, ensuring comprehensive coverage, including edge cases. She will discuss traceability and alignment to outline how AI-generated requirements establish a robust traceability matrix, verifying all aspects of software functionality. Additionally, the session will...Read more
The testing profession assembles its own team of 'master testers' with technical, automation, performance, and security roles. However, placing the end user as the final building block in your testing team can unlock valuable insights about your product's design and usability, helping to transform it into a true masterpiece. Constraints like time, access to end users, or user testing experience often prevent organizations from tapping directly into the end user's perspectives. Join Kris and Courtney to learn how they created a specialized user testing team in a multinational...Read more
APIs are an essential part of an increasingly large number of applications that we use daily. APIs enable applications to exchange data and functionality easily and securely. As testers, we want to ensure that our APIs do not break and provide the expected functionality. In this workshop, Julia Pottinger will get you started with automating APIs, creating a checklist of things needed to automate an API, automating workflows and negative tests for your API as well as checking that your APIs handle errors appropriately, follow the specified schema, and don't reveal data that it shouldn’t or...Read more
Join Charles Reynolds as he walks you through the experience of delivering test automation to the DoD (DISA) to facilitate rapid deployment of new releases of software and firmware for networking devices used to provide DoD networks. Additionally, the goal was to provide rapid infrastructure deployment for tier 3 support engineering to address new issues as they arose. At one point the DoD was several revisions behind in deploying to the field allowing for significant vulnerabilities in our nation’s networks. See how AgileWARE (a custom Agile Workflow And Resource Enablement COTS tool) was...Read more
Developers and testers seem to be pulling against each other sometimes and yet, both try to reach the same goal—great software. Their focus is on different parts of the development process, but there are actually quite a few things they can learn from each other! Filip will shed some light into how developers can apply a testing mindset in order to write better code and what can testers learn from developers to enhance their process. He will cover why it’s important that testers get a basic understanding of the app they are testing and why developers should care about flakiness. Learn...Read more
Delivering performance applications is a multi-layered challenge these days. Teams must assure that the application performs on multiple fronts. Each new function must have quick responses and be as slim as possible from the coding moment. It must be quick and light for a single request, handle concurrency, and coexist with multiple other processes even in micro-serviced applications spread all over the place. Not to mention, it must handle lots of loads once in production. It must stay performant and available within the agreed thresholds. The impressive amount of tasks to tackle and co-...Read more
Next-Gen QA: Harnessing AI for Breakthroughs in Continuous Testing delves into the pivotal role of AI in elevating QA practices, focusing on how it drives unparalleled quality and speed in software delivery. This session, led by testing expert Surya Suravarapu, will cover the sophisticated AI techniques transforming test case generation and real-time test adaptation, ensuring your testing strategies are not only efficient but also meticulously aligned with dynamic software developments. Attendees will leave with actionable insights on integrating AI into their QA frameworks, empowering...Read more
In an era where Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, the field of test automation is no exception. This talk aims to shed light on how ML can be practically applied in test automation using open-source tools that are readily available for implementation. Join Dmitry as he explores three popular tools—Healenium, ReportPortal and Visual Regression Tracker—that leverage ML to offer innovative solutions in self-healing capabilities, testing results analysis and visual testing, respectively. You will learn about the rise of AI and ML in...Read more
Have you ever had a QA tool fail to gain momentum? Ever had a splintered array of test automation frameworks that does the exact same thing across your quality engineering organization? Ever have a hard time getting leadership to sign off for tools that you know could easily boost testing productivity? If you answered yes to any of these, come join Albrecht in this crash course in building your quality engineering roadmap. In this session, Albrecht will go over how to build a product roadmap that aligns with your organization's goals and identify key milestones, to ensure your...Read more
Many organizations face the issue today whereby their customers have a wide range of mobile devices upon which their application runs making it challenging to find all potential defects. To accomplish testing of various devices would require an organization to purchase many physical devices and maintain them. Join Alanzo as he walks you through how his team validated the functionality and compatibility of their mobile app in various environments and on various mobile devices through use of a robust test environment. He will outline how developing automated scripts, implementing a platform...Read more
Speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. Agile testing is essential to ensuring software quality while allowing for quick iterations. How can you strike the right balance between maintaining high-quality software and meeting aggressive development timelines? In this session, you will learn how to navigate the dynamic landscape of agile testing and uncover strategies for maintaining software quality in high-velocity development settings. Explore the interplay between agile methodologies and testing practices, discovering how to seamlessly integrate quality assurance without...Read more
In 2024, the amount of new technologies and practical applications to software testing principles can leave any software tester looking to advance their career in test automation feeling overwhelmed. In this interactive session, Anna will share the applied learning models that she has developed over her 10+ years of experience in the field to empower you on your test automation learning journey. You will gain a deeper understanding of Cypress, a user-friendly framework, to help you write your first automated test, as well learn practical tips and tricks on how to further develop...Read more
Love it or hate it, test automation drives a large part of our day-to-day lives as testers. But writing and maintaining software automation doesn't HAVE to be painful! Learn from a panel of automation experts - including Janna Loeffler, Adam Auerbach, and more - about how their teams have built reliable automation tooling and infrastructure that can stand the test of time. Moderated by Melissa Benua, the panel will answer YOUR questions and help you address the challenges that we all face when scaling our test automation to match modern continuous delivery needs. You don't have to have a...Read more
Throughout the years, Lightning Talks have been a popular part of the STAR conferences. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Lightning Talks consists of a series of five-minute talks by different speakers within one presentation period. Lightning Talks are the opportunity for speakers to deliver their single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation. And now, lightning has struck the STAR keynotes. Some of the best-known experts in testing will step up to the podium and give you their best shot of lightning. Get multiple keynote presentations for the price of one—and...Read more
Thursday, May 2
Welcome to the era of rolling autonomous death machines, also known as the era of the software-defined autonomous vehicle. As companies like Tesla have proven, modern car buyers value software driven experiences at a growing rate. No longer are cars just about horsepower but are now really about personalization, entertainment, and comfort. They are also all becoming at least semi-autonomous with level 4 autonomy coming within the decade. In this new world, continuous deployment and deep learning AI will change the user's experience with the modern vehicle. Even today, all modern cars...Read more
Prompt Engineering is a skill that anyone can develop, even mere mortals. While Generative AI can produce amazing results, it isn’t magic. You don’t need to be an AI Wizard to learn to craft effective prompts that help you leverage Generative AI in a way that helps you complete your tasks and achieve your goals and objectives. Tom will break down the terms and use everyday examples to illustrate Prompt Engineering best practices so that you can more easily navigate the nuances of Generative AI. In this session, you will learn what Prompt Engineering is and how to use it to get the best...Read more
Are you and your team having trouble managing your workload? Is your Dev to QA ratio completely out of whack? Do you need help convincing management that one or two extra hands would make a difference? Amanda will draw from her experience on teams of various sizes to provide examples of how to organize the QA workload into manageable pieces without losing your sanity. She will also give advice on how to outsource to other non-QA team members that can assist with getting stories to done and avoid potential bottlenecks. We’ll also discuss ways to get developer assistance with unit and...Read more
The evolution of testing from manual to automated has created a stir around efficiency and savings. Today we are delivering the best products while exploring ways to save energy and money. At the enterprise level, delivery managers and executives are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and save money in all areas of the DevOps lifecycle. As the world collaborates to meet the net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the DevOps team is at the center of sustainability. Sustainability is how we co-exist with the planet by making choices that will sustain the planet for generations to...Read more
On agile teams, development moves quickly. This makes it especially easy to fall into the trap of initially ignoring the crucial component of testing. In order to add confidence to the product Stephanie's team outputs, they have modified their workflow to lean on Test-Driven Development. Test-Driven Development pushed Stephanie to be a better developer by: helping define her requirements in code, use tests as a guideline for completion, and easily incorporate automated testing into pipelines in her merge requests. Test-Driven Development has also enabled her team to be more effective by:...Read more
Artificial intelligence is the newest trend in software testing. But what is it, and how will it impact the tester's role, both today and in the future? What do you need to do to embrace this emerging technology? Tariq King will moderate this panel discussion to give you an opportunity to hear the opinions of industry leaders about AI in testing. You will have a chance to drive the debate, so come prepared with all your AI questions.Read more
This talk explores the transformative impact of AI across software project management, development, and automation, showcasing wider principles that can be applied industry-wide. By delving into practical examples of how AI is used within SpiraPlan and Rapise, Adam Sandman highlights the unique benefits that AI integration brings to agile software development teams.Read more
With the “AI Boom”, testing AI will be a vital skill for every tester. But, how can you test a system with few expected results or test oracles? This talk will discuss the vital skills that Quality Engineers offer to AI/ML development as well as different tools and techniques that you can use to start testing AI. Ben will discuss how you can automate “Adversarial Testing”, a technique which provides inputs to see if an AI produces undesirable responses. You will learn a technique known as “Fuzzing”, in which testing provides an array of inputs to see if a program produces a result that is...Read more
Wouldn't it be great if leadership was an easy recipe with clear and concise instructions? 1-part hard work, 1-part knowledge, a dash of self-confidence, sprinkle with humility and grace, and bake for the duration of your career. Perfection! Unfortunately, leadership is a complex recipe, and the measurements can be extremely tricky to get right. Even worse, if the ingredients in your recipe are slightly altered, it might seem like the recipe wasn't a success. But cooking is an artistic endeavor; recipes can be adapted and so can your leadership journey. Join Christine as she helps you...Read more
DevOps principles can be applied to various industries, including aviation, to enhance the development, testing, and deployment of software systems used in aircraft. These software systems are critical for various functions such as navigation, communication, and monitoring. It's important to note that the aviation industry has unique safety and regulatory requirements that do not to apply to commercial products, so DevOps practices must align with these standards to ensure the safety and reliability of aircraft software systems. Join Aly and Lisa as they take off and discuss how DevOps...Read more
Running tests on a live environment (as opposed to a mocked one) is generally an anti-pattern within the Cypress community. You won’t find many (if any!) articles explaining how to do so, or how to do so successfully. However, live app testing can sometimes be critical when it comes to integration testing; as it helps you find bugs your mocked tests just won’t find. These bugs are usually critical and can make or break your production deployments. Stephanie McSwain has seen it work first hand and it’s been eye opening. Join this session and Stephanie will show you how, when, and why to...Read more
Managing test data is hard. Managing test data in complex, distributed, poorly documented, and organization-spanning enterprise software is substantially harder. In enterprise systems test data is convoluted, hidden, and hard to synthesize, the test environments it flows through are shared and unstable, and the test scenarios dependent on it are long and complex. These challenges combine to cripple many test automation efforts in enterprise software. In this talk Blake Norrish will describe what an optimal test data management strategy looks like, how the nature of enterprise software...Read more
In CI/CD pipelines, automated testing services validate functionality of apps across hundreds of real-world mobile devices and OS versions. However, automated testing services can also leverage methods and tools that violate cybersecurity policies or that cybersecurity professionals find problematic and dangerous including: emulators, virtualization, resigning, debugging, dual spaces, Magisk and more. Once protections are added to a mobile app, security features detect these methods and tools and the resulting cyber defense may prevent testers from using parts of these testing...Read more
Navigating a successful career in software testing presents formidable challenges, especially when striving to climb the career ladder. Whether you're aiming to transition from manual testing to becoming an SDET or contemplating roles in people management and organizational leadership, forging your path can feel overwhelming. Join Jeff Sing, as he draws upon his personal journey, starting as a QA Intern and progressing to his current role as a Director of Engineering. Through anecdotes and insights, you will learn the strategies and decisions that can significantly propel your career...Read more
You want to go faster, your business wants to go faster, frankly the market is forcing you to go faster. Your organization has no choice, you go faster or you get left behind! All that speed cannot come at the expense of quality though, you must maintain or improve quality as you increase velocity. If you are going to speed up to meet demand and maintain quality, you need to automate testing. To automate you need a solid plan and architecture. Join Tony to explore unit, functional and regression testing—why each one is needed and where to implement. Understand the differences between...Read more
In today's technology-driven landscape, where software and hardware intertwine seamlessly in embedded systems, adopting a DevOps culture becomes imperative. This talk delves into the dynamic world of embedded systems and explores how organizations can successfully implement and nurture a DevOps culture within this unique domain. DevOps, with its emphasis on collaboration, automation, and continuous improvement, has revolutionized software development. Our discussion will navigate through these challenges and unveil strategies to harness the full potential of DevOps in the embedded systems...Read more
In today's data-driven landscape, real-time data processing is the backbone of modern applications. Kafka, a distributed event streaming platform, has emerged as a critical component in building data-intensive systems. This presentation provides an in-depth exploration of Kafka and the essential practice of Kafka testing, offering attendees valuable insights into harnessing the power of real-time data streams while ensuring robust system reliability. You will be introduced to Kafka and to understanding Kafka's architecture and core components, as well as the importance of Kafka...Read more
Preparing your software application to handle peak loads and high-volume conditions is vital, whether your business is seasonal operations like e-commerce during holiday seasons, a ticketing system for big events, a live streaming service hosting the World Cup, or a financial institute that must provide seamless transactions. Load and performance testing, along with the creation of a simulated environment for testing, is your key to success. This combination provides the understanding of how your application will behave under high-stress circumstances and ensures stability and performance...Read more
In the dynamic world of software development, guaranteeing top-tier product quality for a broad user base is a formidable challenge. This talk confronts this challenge head-on with a strategy to enhance software quality. Vijay will cover how to decode Minimum Viable Product (MVP) requirements, forming the bedrock of your testing strategy. Then learn how to prioritize test plan coverage aligned with these requirements for precise testing. Ensure you smoothly onboard new QA team members with a comprehensive "Quick Start Guide." This accelerates their contributions to quality...Read more
Today IT leadership & QA executives of the world’s top brands all have strong, significant & differentiating personal brands to differentiate them in their industry. Whether you are an associate, executive, sales person, business leader, or human resources professional in an organization, who you are matters as much as how you communicate it. Now more than ever it is important to get your voice heard and establish your reputation on and off line. Learn the tips and tricks for building your personal brand from the expert that taught several IT & C-Suite executives, business...Read more
In today's fast-paced software development landscape, the pressure to deliver code rapidly is unrelenting. However, this doesn't mean that our applications are becoming simpler or that testing is less critical. On the contrary, the software environment has grown more diverse, and applications are constructed in increasingly intricate ways to meet evolving business demands. In this session, we draw inspiration from the craftsmanship of master swordsmiths who meticulously forged swords to perfection. Quality, in their world, meant the difference between life and death. Similarly, in software...Read more
In today's rapidly evolving engineering landscape, metrics play a crucial role in assessing performance, making data-driven decisions, and driving successful project outcomes. Engineers who can effectively create, interpret, and present impactful data metrics have a distinct advantage in driving innovation and driving organizational success. This presentation dives deep into the essential skills and techniques necessary for engineers to excel in the realm of testing metrics. Join Cholette to delve into the different types of testing metrics. Explore how engineers can set clear...Read more
The slow adoption of accessibility guidelines, particularly Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, remains a consistent challenge within the software development community. Companies often struggled to integrate accessibility into their DevOps cycles, as compliance necessitated substantial changes in development practices and KPIs. Many auditors tend to test websites reactively, hindering the evolution of understanding and accessibility testing techniques. Recognizing that viewing accessibility guidelines as a growth opportunity can lead to improved products and happier...Read more
Migrating an existing application to a Kubernetes-based service architecture introduces an entirely new set of performance testing challenges that demand careful consideration. In this presentation, join Matthew to identify issues encountered with performance testing apps as they migrate from existing architectures onto cloud-native and Kubernetes. The session will explore: 1) The delicate balance between performance and correctness when dealing with applications at "internet" scale. 2) The unexpected impact of the Kubernetes auto-scaler and how it can influence the behavior of your...Read more
In software development, particularly in the DevOps and AI era, the role of a tester is both crucial and challenging. WE need to aim to empower testers with strategies to excel in this environment, ensuring they deliver the highest quality applications. In this keynote, you will learn how to manage expectations and instill confidence in your team along the software delivery process. Join Lisette to explore effective communication techniques with stakeholders, establishing trust and demonstrating value from the project's inception. Discover how to continuously leverage key performance...Read more
Friday, May 3
Friday, May 3, 2024 | 8:30am-3:30pm ET Available as a Free Bonus session for In-Person Registrations Only.
Women Who Test will take place in Orlando and is designed for women to network with other women who work in software testing. It is also a unique way to learn from and be inspired by each other. The program will cover testing topics and will support women’s personal and career journeys and include content like: reengineering your life, growing your personal brand, setting goals, discovering your career superpowers,...Read more
At the 2024 Testing & Quality Leadership Summit, program chair Jeffery Payne brings together senior industry leaders for an interactive exchange of ideas and experiences. Each of these leaders brings a unique perspective to the table and will provide Summit participants with lessons learned and practical techniques for leading teams, addressing management challenges, and gaining senior management buy-in.Read more