Matthew Balconi
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Whether I'm finding them, causing them, or teaming up to help fix them- software problems are my livelihood.
QA is in a unique position to benefit the end user by providing as unbiased an eye as possible towards software’s overall quality. Whether that means bugging your devs to finish up those unit tests, or going back to UX with some concerns about a workflow- today's QA engineer is tasked with so much more than writing/executing tests and finding bugs.
Let’s face it, modern QA engineers need the ability to quickly become familiar with various tools, devices, automation frameworks- you name it. We are lucky to work in an intellectually stimulating environment, where you can continually elevate yourself within your profession thru education. In short, “the more you know...”
Here are some tools I use to test, collaborate, and write automation.
I work remotely- so slack is at the top of my list because it is my team's communication hub. I can’t even remember how we communicated before slack- those were dark days.
For those times when you just don’t feel like typing. Everyone can share their screen simultaneously. It integrates with slack so a slack message turns into a video chat very naturally. This is how we code review.
I'm an rspec noob, but I thoroughly enjoy learning it by writing functional code (in Aptana) and then making it better through code reviews. Ruby is great to work with and it’s a lot easier for me to understand than C#.
Planning and tracking have gotten much better since we brought on JIRA. It gives the entire team a clear picture of the work that’s to do, in progress, and done. It’s software that gets out of the way- and we like it for that.
Is it weird to have a browser as one of my essential tools? I don’t think so. Chrome makes my life easier with lightweight plugins so I rarely have to leave, and their dev tools are the best imho. Yes I have to test in other browsers, but any heavy lifting is done in chrome.
Some other tools I use (some by choice, others not)
- TFS (meh)
-Selenium IDE
- VirtualBox (I support IE8+)
-SQL Server 2014
-Notepad ++
Enough work stuff- this is what interests me personally at the moment. Disclaimer: All interests displayed below are subject to change on a whim!
Up in the sky, it’s a bird- it’s a plane... it’s a bunch of hobby foam, popsicle sticks, hot glue, and cheap electronics!?
Right now I like Jeff Spira’s designs for being simple, well executed, cheap, and robust. I think I’d be in way over my head building a 23’ Farallon Offshore Power Dory, but that’s what I like right now.
There are so many brands making so many appealing devices. Right now my favorites are the Xiaomi Mi Note and the Blu Vivo Air.
Webflow is fun. I would never have imagined a few years ago I could create a responsive website by pushing buttons on a wysiwyg. It’s wicked pissah!
I only own 2 at the moment, but there are so many interesting options with Broadwell processors, 1080p screens, and the price has never been better. I’m particularly intrigued with the Acer CB15 and the new Pixel.
It's not like I'm getting many views at all, but I enjoy filming and editing content of my various interests on my two YouTube channels.