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...
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...
Date: 10/16/2014
The Data Driven Quality Mindset
"Success is not delivering a feature; success is learning how to solve the customer's...
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...
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...
Date: 07/09/2014
Prerequisites to Data Driven Quality
A previous post introduced the concept of data driven quality. Moving from traditional, up-front...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Date: 03/20/2012
Successfully Interviewing for a Developer Job
Having recently completed another round of campus campus interviews, several things stand out as...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Date: 09/15/2011
Listening to the team
There is an old saying in software that goes something like this, “Scope, Timeframe, and...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Date: 03/17/2010
The Complexity Hammer
I’ve been doing a lot of interviewing lately, especially of college students. There is one tendency...
Date: 03/16/2010
Plan Intentionally
I previously wrote about being intentional, but focused mostly on intentionality in execution. ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Date: 11/13/2009
StackOverflow DevDays
I spent the day at Benaroya Hall for the 1st (annual?) StackOverflow DevDays conference. Overall...
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...
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...
Date: 08/04/2009
Be Intentional
My old manager used to always say, “Be intentional.” It took me a long time to comprehend...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Date: 04/01/2009
Review: Peopleware
The book, Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister, comes highly recommended by Joel Spolsky and...
Date: 03/31/2009
Spotting the "Uncoachables"
Interesting article from Harvard talking about how to spot people who can't be coached. The author...
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...
Date: 03/24/2009