Automation and John Henry Plus The Perils of Training
I haven't been blogging because I'm learning to become a coder part time. I've now made a deal with my boss so that I don't go crazy (well anymore than I already am).
It looks a little something like this:
Half.day perWeek testyRedhead="coder". If testyRedhead != coder then resume testing and being <hostile
My reluctance, mistrust, and feeling that I can test better than automation can reminds me of the story of John Henry's Hammer. In this story, John Henry tries to beat a steam hammer but kills himself in the process. Ultimately, he fails to beat the industrial revolution. Is this heroism, or is he just stubborn and dead? My issues are no different. Being change resistant is unwise in the face of a steam hammer of changing industry trends.
I've been attending training. In fact, one of the best classes I've ever taken was last week. I feel 20% more comfortable with object oriented programming than before. I did quite well in the class, especially considering my lack of experience. However, it pointed out several things to me and clarified them by shedding a blinding light on several facts.
1. It isn't that I can't do it, it's just that I hate it and am not interested.
2. I like working on UIs, skinning, and overall project design and even pseudo code, but I hate writing code.
3. I'd rather get a root canal than work on any back end database code.
4. I could force myself to do this, but if it becomes a major part of my job I won't even make it one year more.
5. Each thing I learn points out the vast area that I have no knowledge of, and rather than a curious interest, it fills me with an unexpected level of dread and unhappiness.
6. My favorite part of the class was finding the bugs I found in the released software.
7. I wasn't put on the earth to be unhappy. Yes, there are things that must be done that we don't like in every job. If those things are growing and the parts you love are shrinking, much like a failing relationship, you must try to turn it around, and repair it. If you can't, you have to get out before you are no longer yourself, and become something miserable that is barely surviving life. I am hoping the "contain to 1/10th of job" compromise will take hold and will be something that works out for both parties. You can't have everything your way all of the time.
In other news, I'm hoping I don't get the "opportunity" (a.k.a. mandatory order from boss) to attend another course (a.k.a. self-impressed speech) by famed professor/author and Florida Software Testing Posse Member James A. Whittaker. The last "opportunity for learning" I had on the topic of Breaking Computer Software was the one and only training I've ever walked out of. It is the first time I've felt both insulted and horrified. I can't figure out if it was the fact that the course material was totally inappropriate for experienced testers, or the fact that he was laughing at tricking new testers to make them feel stupid, or that he came across as the most self-congratulatory person I've heard speak which made me feel so angry that I had to leave the building. Hazing? Mocking people? What is this? Testing or a frat rush week? I do not support those who I consider needlessly mean spirited. Apparently the scathing feedback I left on the course was in the minority. Famous professor of software testing must be good, right? Don't even get me started on the topic of certification, or much like John Henry, my heart may explode.
Great that you're learning how to code. It is a valuable skill that will benefit all areas of your life.
It's better to die standing than live on ones knees. #bornToTest & #bornToCode. Embrace change as a mother
embraces a new born child.
1. Mentally condition yourself and then you can turn everything into a pleasurable activity.
2. If you tell yourself that you love writing code as much as you love working on UIs, skinning
and overall project design, it'll happen.
3. Back end database code is where the rubber meets the concrete, that's where the action is
in the Data Access Layer. Work on back end database code and you will love it's internal functions.
4. If you work on back end database code one year and mentally put yourself in the right state of
mind you will rename yourself to testy back end database tasty code.
5. I usually focus on all that I don't know and feel uneasy in a highly attentive, curious state
which enhances the learning experience and absorption of new knowledge. If you think you know it all
you're dead.
6. Congratulations on finding the bugs in the course material that you find in the released software.
Aren't those bugs supposed to be found in the development phase?
7. Tell yourself that you enjoy doing them and then that will become your reality. Format yourself
properly conducive to performance and on the job success. If a relationship turns sour let go of that immediately,
no use trying to turn an ox into a racing horse. Do everything with gratitude. If my boss should ask me to mop
the floor after a long day, I will do just that with gratitude and thank him for this learning experience.
Training and continuous self education, learning on the job, reading books, good discussion with experts is the
fastest way to progress. And hands on application. The best way to learn a new framework is to build something with it
from an awesome Software Developer.
Take all experiences as an opportunity to learn and mostly they are intended to enhance the experience, always scratch beneath the surface. Analyze why is that behaving in that way what are the intended and unintendedd consequences of that action?
Certification is great and I have planed to start the MCPD Certification track in the near future.
I don't want your heart to explode but it does me feel good when I get criticized or made to feel stupid and inadequate, laughed at.
That only spurns me on to master whatever the subject is concerned with to prove to myself I can do this. Self-Empowerment. That what doesn't kill makes stronger. Compliments weaken man, criticism makes stronger, if he's made of the right stuff. If you test the bejeezus out of back end database code you will learn to love the data access layer too.
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