Comments on: Testers don’t think like Developers think like Computers

By: Should/Need Testers know how to Program (a Testing Question from Brazil) – Testing Thoughts

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:55:32 +0000

[...] doesn’t know how to code!! Well, then end user doesn’t know either. In the comments to Testers don’t think like Developers think like Computers I was asked about recruiting programming testers, and this is the answered there (notice the [...]

By: Shmuel Gershon

Shmuel Gershon — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:18:35 +0000

Dear Anon,
Coding isn’t a required background for testers. Coding skills will help on coding tasks, and sometimes with system understanding. But a diverse background will make the team thrieve and explore the system in fruitful ways.

A domain expert can bring much more value than a B.S. in Computer science. For example, when building an application for trading stocks, a tester with a buying/selling stocks background will find valuable information.

(See lesson 235 in “Lessons Learned in Software Testing” by Cem Kaner, James Bach and Bret Pettichord – “Staff the testing team with diverse background”).

Of course, there is no 1-size-fits-all, and different projects may require a different team profile. Just as different managers or different contexts may.
In essense, I would agree that teams should be encouraged to hire non-coder testers. Or, if not encouraged, the practice should be considered perfectly acceptable.

Thanks for stoping by and commenting!

By: Anon

Anon — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:47:31 +0000

So it sounds testing teams should be encouraged to hire people *without* any coding background.