You may have noticed that the Dev Tester blog has been on a bit of a hiatus this year, with very little new content published in the past year. That's going to change soon, with more frequent articles and additional supporting content. However, the focus of the blog will shift slightly, and I wanted to discuss the direction of Dev Tester moving forward.
The Original Goal for Dev Tester
When I began publishing articles on Dev Tester in 2019, my intention was to bridge the gap between software development and software testing. Although they're tightly related and both essential to a finished software product, the unfortunate reality is that developers and testers are often not on the same page.
As a software engineer for over 20 years, I have seen firsthand how difficult it is to start any conversation about testing. As much as I tried to encourage my fellow software engineers to write more automated tests for their work and asked project managers to allocate a little more time for manual QA instead of rushing through to deploy and hoping that nothing went wrong, it was a challenge.
My purpose for starting Dev Tester was to provide an outlet for sharing my thoughts, opinions, and ideas on how to improve the relationship between developers, testers, and other stakeholders on a software project. Having worked in tech for so long, I thought I could offer something for others to consider, and I've been pleased to see my articles frequently shared and resonate with others.
Quality Isn't Just About Software Testing
However, while I enjoy talking about software testing, my primary focus in my line of work is software engineering, and my attention tends to shift towards the development and operations aspects of the equation. The lack of new content on the Dev Tester website began when I wanted to cover non-testing topics elsewhere, primarily on my personal website, as well as a new YouTube channel.
In an ideal world, I would have the time and focus to dedicate equal attention to all these attempts to share my thoughts with the world. These efforts have been fulfilling to me, but I have come to realize that splitting my attention into these distinct groups is opposite to my original intentions with Dev Tester. Instead of bringing together developers and testers, separating my writing will eventually keep both groups siloed—the antithesis of my original intent.
As my career has progressed, my conviction that high-quality software is the responsibility of everyone on a team has continued to strengthen. The entire effort—from development to testing to deployment and beyond—needs to be taken care of in equal measure.
What's Coming Next for Dev Tester
Because of this strong belief, I have decided to take Dev Tester to the next level by focusing not only on testing, but also on development, DevOps, and other software engineering topics. I'll continue to publish articles related to testing, but you'll also begin to see other articles covering subjects such as development practices, DevOps processes, and other areas that directly relate to creating healthy, sustainable software for the long haul.
Developers and testers who have a clearer understanding of what it entails to produce and deliver an excellent product will be better positioned to increase the impact of their work. We don't have to be experts in everything involving a finished software product—I definitely am not—but I firmly believe that by understanding all the pieces of the puzzle we're not often engaged in daily, we can foster the empathy and understanding that will allow everyone on a team to help each other instead of battling over semantics in their specific domain.
I realize that shifting the focus of Dev Tester more broadly might cause some to seek their information elsewhere. However, I hope that you stick around and we can all expand our thinking to become the best developers, testers, and engineers we can be on our teams. We're all on the same team.
If you have any topics you'd like to see covered on Dev Tester, send me an email ([email protected]) and let me know.
