Steve Morgan

https://lnkd.in/eRCGmQsD I was part of a cohort of engineering managers who read this for a "book club". As expected some of it was very dry, however it was a very practical guide and reflection on Agile software development 2 decades later. If you struggle with estimation, sprint velocity, and accounting for all things SDLC, it's a really solid guide. If nothing else, it's a reminder of what the "why" is with software development. We don't do it to follow a pure process. We do it do deliver products and services that delight our users. Agile is just "how" we get there.

2

The biggest realisation I've had in years of building test automation for connected TV: technology is only part of the problem. You can have the best framework in the world, but without the right processes, people, and expertise wrapped around it, you won't get the results you need. You need to focus not just on the technology but also on the team and the processes around it. One will not work without the other.

22

1 Comment

The early 2010's were the golden BDD days, I really enjoyed the projects I worked on back then. An astute article on the rise and fall of BDD tools, and BDD in general. Thought I do wish people would stop talking about things "dying" in tech or being "dead", it's just evolution. " ... we as an industry failed to successfully productize tools for collaboration. The world jumped on BDD because Cucumber-esque frameworks were easy to adopt. The world was less willing to adopt BDD’s collaborative techniques because they were merely processes, not products. Products are sticky; processes are not. Cucumber tests will still be running after we all retire." https://lnkd.in/ezXXbvUE

1

Is BDD discriminatory? It’s an intriguing question one of our students raised recently. After all, BDD workshops often rely on how clearly people can articulate requirements–and for those working in a second language, that can be challenging. But here’s the thing: the real power of BDD isn’t the syntax, it’s collaboration and clarity. Techniques like example mapping and feature mapping help teams uncover subtleties in requirements, regardless of someone’s language fluency. And with new tools–like AI-assisted story refinement–we’re seeing even more ways to lower communication barriers, making requirements discovery smoother and more inclusive. At its heart, BDD is about shared understanding. The better we get at that, the better the software we deliver. How does your team ensure everyone’s voice is heard in requirements discussions? #SoftwareTesting #TestAutomation #BDD #AgileTesting #CareerGrowth #UnitTesting #AgileDevelopment #QualityCode #SerenityBDD #TestingStrategies #SoftwareDevelopment

3

Testing is often an unnecessarily emotive subject in the software industry. I particularly recall a trip to a 'Software Craftsmen' London meetup in the early 2010s - the culture disintegrated into a shark tank when a brave soul dared to even slightly question (respectfully) the received wisdom du jour. As a fresh graduate, was I then going to ask any questions I had? Was I heck! I didn't go back, safe to say. (I instead found the London Clojurians, a much friendlier bunch - my kinda people 😊) Fast forward to today: I wanted to define a more objective language to talk about testing - a recognition that, despite all of the religious fervour, there can be a pragmatic middle ground that adequately mitigates the risks at a reasonable cost. So, rather than vague lamentations around 'we need time to improve our tests', 'we don't have enough tests', etc, the dimensions in this JUXT article give us a more precise, objective language to talk about the value and costs that our tests bring, prioritise certain areas over others, or quantify our improvements. https://lnkd.in/eu8rp8Wa Have I missed any big ones?

13

9 Comments

Recently posted this on Medium: a guide for any designers wishing use JSON files to generate dynamic content in the GOV.UK Prototype Kit. The techniques described were invaluable in a recent project at HMRC.

9

Scrumconnect’s Testing & QA services help organisations launch with confidence ensuring every service is reliable, resilient, and ready for real-world use. Key outcomes: ✅ Consistent Performance – Thorough testing for stability across all scenarios. ✅ User Trust – Flawless, seamless experiences from day one. ✅ Lower Risk – Issues identified and resolved before they impact delivery. Discover how we build quality and trust into every release: https://lnkd.in/geuXVibV #TestingServices #QA #Automation #Scrumconnect

13

And now for some readings of user level RCU .. and a landmark paper that led to the implementation of liburcu - the user space RCU library, a Christmas Day evening read .. Why RCU is difficult in user space ? RCU, particularly its high-performance Quiescent-State-Based Reclamation (QSBR) variant, is easier in kernel mode because the kernel scheduler automatically detects quiescent states whenever a CPU context-switches, enters user mode, or idles, allowing grace-period tracking without any explicit cooperation from kernel code. In user mode, applications lack this built-in mechanism, so threads must explicitly register and periodically report quiescent states (e.g., by calling specific functions), imposing invasive global constraints on the entire application. These requirements make user-level RCU harder to adopt broadly, as they complicate library design and require modifications to all potentially reading threads, which is impractical in many user-space programs. User level implementations of RCU : This paper contributes to user-level RCU by formally describing efficient and flexible implementations that overcome the limitations of prior approaches, which either imposed high read-side overhead or severely restricted application design. It presents multiple classes of RCU (including QSBR, memory-barrier, signal-based, and bullet-proof variants) with detailed algorithms, performance analysis, and comparisons to locking, directly forming the foundational basis for the liburcu library's core flavors and enabling its widespread adoption in user-space applications.

73

3 Comments

BDD and AI assisted coded is an awesome combo. Have your user stories include acceptance criteria written in Given/When/Then (aka Gherkin) whenever the change impacts users. You can use an agent, don't write it yourself This stops the uneasy feeling when the work is completed where you think to yourself "really? This does not feel right" (even with excellent unit test coverage) I force my agents to get a pass 100% across lint, unit test, integration, BDD (end to end across components). I means I know it works from a user perspective. Across systems.

9

1 Comment

Elite R&D teams have this approach towards software engineering and estimations...it's dreamland and caters for multiple types of stakeholders if you have their buy-in🎖️

5

You hired your QA team for their critical thinking, user empathy, and complex problem-solving skills. So why are they spending 80% of their day manually checking login forms and running the same regression scripts they've run 1,000 times? This isn't just inefficient; it's a massive waste of human potential. You're using a surgeon to apply band-aids. The true purpose of automation isn't to replace your QA team. It's to liberate them. Automate the repetitive, predictable, and mundane. Free your human experts to do what they do best: Run complex exploratory tests. Analyze user behavior and business risk. Ask the "what if...?" questions that a script never could. Stop using your best people as slow, expensive robots.

2

Want to master the skills to drive customer and business outcomes in an #Agile enterprise? Our SAFe® Product Owner / Product Manager (POPM) course, run by CGI UK Agile Digital Services, gives you the tools and certification to: - Define and prioritise work for maximum value - Collaborate effectively with teams and stakeholders - Apply a customer-centric approach to product development - Work efficiently in remote and distributed environments Learn how product owners and product managers can align strategy with execution to build better products and deliver more value, faster. Join the course and start delivering more impact today: https://bit.ly/44LrQYQ. Next courses: 12-17 June | 4-9 September #WeAreCGI #CGIUK #SAFePOPM #AgileProductManagement #BusinessAgility

17

Is your BDD suite a "tax" or a "tool"? Most teams struggle with the "Indirection Tax" of traditional BDD frameworks, the separate layer of glue code that sits between a specification and its execution. It often becomes harder to maintain than the application itself. I’ve been working on an architectural shift for choreo to eliminate this, and I recently put it through a real-world stress test: building a complete BDD suite for my other project, tbdflow. Dogfooding from the Trenches I wrote 40 real-world tests across 5 .chor files, covering everything from branch naming conventions to data-driven commit validation, but I realised that technical "Direct Execution" wasn't enough. I needed to move up the stack and separate Business Intent from Technical Protocol. Inspired by Dave Farley’s "Four-Layer Model" and a masterclass in feedback from Valentina Jemuović, I’ve introduced Composite Tasks to the Choreo DSL. As shown in the visual below, this allows you to define a "Domain Vocabulary" directly in your spec: 1️⃣ The Policy Layer: Scenarios that read exactly like your Acceptance Criteria. 2️⃣ The DSL Layer: Named tasks (e.g., create_branch or verify_commit_succeeded) that describe the "What." 3️⃣ The Driver Layer: Task implementations using Choreo's native actors that handle the "How." 4️⃣ The Execution Layer: Zero-glue interaction with your CLI, APIs, and System. The tbdflow suite proved that you can have high-level business specifications that are easy for stakeholders to read, without the maintenance penalty of external step definitions. Special thanks to Valentina for the invaluable insights on separating intent from protocol. 🙏 If you’re looking for a way to make your tests a true "Model Client" of your system, check out the updated choreo here: https://lnkd.in/dSdrcHrz #BDD #ATDD #SoftwareArchitecture #ContinuousDelivery #Rust #DevOps #PlatformEngineering

10

5 Comments

I've written about writing effective test doubles for automated testing - shaking off mocking frameworks for something I find cleaner which helps me deliver with confidence. https://lnkd.in/esn6VJUt

11

Looking Beyond Kane AI? In 2025, empowering QA and engineering teams with flexible, powerful test automation is the key — not locking them into one vendor. That’s why we’ve published a new blog, “Kane-AI Alternatives”, to help teams evaluate whether Kane AI (and similar tools) are the best fit — or if a more adaptable solution makes sense. In the blog, we cover: ✅ What features teams often look for when comparing AI-powered QA tools (coverage, flexibility, integrations, pricing). ✅ Key trade-offs when using tools like KaneAI — and why you might want to consider options instead. ✅ How a platform like Panto AI can offer a compelling alternative approach for teams focused on scalability, maintainability, and end-to-end automation. If you’re evaluating AI-driven QA tools; this is a must-read. 👉 Check out the full blog: https://lnkd.in/gbRwFUJ2 #PantoAI #QualityEngineering #AITesting #TestAutomation #QA #DevOps #SDET

3

I an pleased to announce a new series of Monthly Posts based of my real life 40 years experience. Perhaps new QA will find them helpfull, The Case of the Reluctant UAT The QA Lead, Rita, opened the application and immediately felt the strong urge to check if it was actually an application or a modern art project titled “Undefined Behavior in Blue.” Buttons floated without purpose. Error messages appeared before any clicks. One screen simply said: “Welcome. Something went wrong.” Rita closed her laptop, took a deep breath, and announced, “I officially deny starting User Acceptance Testing. This app has not yet accepted itself.” The Project Manager, Max, nearly dropped his coffee. “Denied? Rita, UAT is on the schedule. The schedule is… laminated.” “Yes,” Rita replied calmly, “and this application is emotionally unready for users.” Max escalated immediately. Emails flew. Meetings were scheduled about the meetings. A calendar invitation titled “Urgent: Why QA Is Being Difficult” appeared. Soon, the issue reached Business. Business looked at the situation, nodded wisely, and said, “We understand the app is… imperfect. But we also don’t want to damage our relationship with the software vendor. They sent us a holiday card last year.” After a long pause, Business delivered their solution: “QA, please test the application on your own before starting User Acceptance Testing.” Rita blinked. “So… you want us to do acceptance testing… before acceptance testing?” “Yes,” Business said confidently. “But unofficially.” Thus began Pre-Pre-UAT, also known as Testing in the Shadows. QA documented bugs so large they needed table numbers. One defect was labeled: ‘Application crashes when user exists.’ Another read: ‘Save button saves nothing, but offers emotional support.’ After weeks of heroic testing, the app was finally stable. Buttons behaved. Errors hid properly. The app no longer surprised anyone. Rita reopened the laptop and smiled. “Now,” she said, “the application is ready to be rejected by users in a formal setting.” User Acceptance Testing began on time. Business was happy. The vendor was happy. The schedule remained laminated. And QA quietly updated their resume… just in case. 😄

22

4 Comments

Learn what makes up an Agile team and the roles you'll find within it, along with the team structures to use to set up your agile team for success. This article first appeared at Rebel's Guide to Project Management

1

The wonderful Oliver Whitwam has written a short blog about how we're practicing type-driven development and domain-modelling to create software that is both correct and is communicable via ubiquitous language. We're really making good usage of the Rust newtype and Haskell-esque smart-constructor patterns to leverage types to encode business rules and invariants (until Rust adds refinement types via pattern-types!). If you love #types, #correctness, #domainmodelling, you'll like this blog I'm sure! https://lnkd.in/eqKWXtqS

13

1 Comment