"So an error culture, that you stand by your mistakes, that would be something where there is still a lot to do. Not only in software development, but in general!" - Andreas Spillner
Who doesn't know him? His book is practically required reading in software testing. But there were also other times. When Andreas was a student, software testing was not only uncommon, but almost frowned upon. However, Andreas recognized the necessity and especially the importance of establishing a thoughtful, structured approach to software testing. "Basiswissen Softwaretest" was published back in 2002 and has not lost any of its importance until today's edition. I talk with Andreas about the past 30 years of software testing, with some anecdotes and a lot of experience.
Andreas Spillner was Professor of Computer Science at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen until 2017. From 1991, he was the spokesperson of the TAV "Test, Analysis and Verification of Software" specialist group of the Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), which he co-founded, for over 10 years. He was involved in the "German Testing Board" e.V. from the beginning until 2009, after which he was appointed honorary member. In 2007 he was appointed Fellow of the GI. Together with Tilo Linz he was awarded the "German Prize for Software Quality" in 2022. He is a member of the ASQF presidium. His work focuses on software engineering, quality assurance and testing. He is author or co-author of books (e.g. "Basiswissen Softwaretest", "Lean Testing für C++- Programmierer - Angemessen statt aufwendig testen") and thematic issues of journals. In addition, he has published numerous articles in journals and given presentations at international and national conferences and seminars.
Topics in the podcast:
- How Andreas came to test
- The genesis of his book "Basiswissen Softwaretest".
- Why the book has been successful for over 20 years
- The biggest upheaval in software testing since emergence
- Andreas' ideas to break down the wall between developers and testers
- Richie's and Andreas' exchange about prioritizing testing
- When testing is seen as destructive
- Andreas wish for the next 20 years