Many things in our lives that look complicated at first can be simplified by following one simple rule: 'Take a look at what's working for the most successful and do the same'. If you want to have a body like the local gym muscleman you need to train like he does. If you want to increase your employability in the job market you should consider starting a blog. If you want to have an effective testing process then you need to take a look at how it's done by Google.It's often shocking for young testers who have just finished ISTQB Foundation certification to realize that the processes described here are considered obsolete by top tech companies. Well, that's reality. How Google Tests Software by James Whittaker, Jason Arbon, and Jeff Carollo explains why it's happening.Lots of quotes from the book can be found in my How to become a software tester post . I'll add just one here from Patrick Copeland's foreword.

In all my interactions up to this point, one thing about Google was clear. It respected computer science and coding skill. Ultimately, if testers were to join this club, they would have to have good computer science fundamentals and some coding prowess. First-class citizenship demanded it.

In technical terminology, we can say that Team Geek teaches us how to have an easy-to-use and effective communication API. There are a lot more technical-social analogies in the book which make it very thought-provoking read. You don't want to miss that one.





Also, it's short. You can finish it in one trip.

I often emphasize the importance of social aspects in software development. Engineers who can communicate only in a boolean language are no longer looked for. They're often exploited in average positions because they can't stand up for themselves. Team Geek - A Software Developer's Guide to Working Well with Others by Brian W. Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman explains how to avoid such situations and productively cooperate with others.Further reading: Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual