Test & Code

Latest Episodes:

80: From Python script to Maintainable Package Jul 04, 2019

Show notes

This episode is a story about packaging, and flit, tox, pytest, and coverage.
And an alternate solution to "using the src".

Python makes it easy to build simple tools for all kinds of tasks.
And it's great to be able to share small projects with others on your team, in your company, or with the world.

When you want to take a script from "just a script" to maintainable package, there are a few steps, but none of it's hard.

Also, the structure of the code layout changes to help with the growth and support.

Instead of just talking about this from memory, I thought it'd be fun to create a new project and walk through the steps, and report back in a kind of time lapse episode. It should be fun.

Here are the steps we walk through:

0.1 Initial script and tests
0.2 build wheel with flit
0.3 build and test with tox
0.4 move source module into a package directory
0.5 move tests into tests directory

Links:

79: Fixing misinformation about software testing Jun 27, 2019

Show notes

Some information about software testing is just wrong.
I'm not talking about opinions. I have lots of opinions and they differ from other peoples opinions. I'm talking about misinformation and old information that is no longer applicable.

I've ran across a few lateley that I want to address.

All of the following are wrong:

Integrated tests can't work. I can prove it with wacky math.
Tests have to be blazing fast or they won't get run.
TDD is about design, not about testing.

This episode discusses why these are wrong.

Links:

78: I don't write tests because ... Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

Roadblocks to writing tests, and what to do about it.

Some developers either don't write tests, or don't like writing tests.
Why not? I love writing tests.
In this episode we examine lots of roadblocks to testing, and start coming up with solutions for these.

Links:

77: Testing Complex Systems with Maintainable Test Suites Jun 11, 2019

Show notes

Creating maintainable test suites for complex systems. The episode describes some complexities involved with hardware testing, then shares techniques for shifting complexity out of the test cases.

quick overview of what test instruments are
discussion of API and communication with instruments
techniques for shifting complexity out of test cases

These techniques should apply to all test suites dealing with complex systems:

Creating test cases that are easy to read and debug and tell a story about what is being tested.
Pushing setup complexity into fixtures.
Pushing lengthy repetitive API call sets into helper functions.
Using stable, documented, interfaces.

Links:

76: TDD: Don’t be afraid of Test-Driven Development - Chris May May 29, 2019

Show notes

Test Driven Development, TDD, can be intimidating to try.
Why is that? And how can we make it less scary?
That's what this episode is about.

Chris May is a Python developer and the co-founder of PyRVA, the Richmond Virginia Python group.
In this episode, Chris shares his experience with adding testing and TDD to his work flow.

I really enjoyed talking with Chris, and I think his story will help lots of people overcome testing anxiety.

Special Guest: Chris May.

Links:

75: Modern Testing Principles - Alan Page May 23, 2019

Show notes

Software testing, if done right, is done all the time, throughout the whole life of a software project. This is different than the verification and validation of a classical model of QA teams. It's more of a collaborative model that actually tries to help get great software out the door faster and iterate quicker.

One of the people at the forefront of this push is Alan Page. Alan and his podcast cohost Brent Jensen tried to boil down what modern testing looks like in the Modern Testing Principles.

I've got Alan here today, to talk about the principles, and also to talk about this transition from classical QA to testing specialists being embedded in software teams and then to software teams doing their own testing.

But that only barely scratches the surface of what we cover. I think you'll learn a lot from this discussion.

The seven principles of Modern Testing:

Our priority is improving the business.
We accelerate the team, and use models like Lean Thinking and the Theory of Constraints to help identify, prioritize and mitigate bottlenecks from the system.
We are a force for continuous improvement, helping the team adapt and optimize in order to succeed, rather than providing a safety net to catch failures.
We care deeply about the quality culture of our team, and we coach, lead, and nurture the team towards a more mature quality culture.
We believe that the customer is the only one capable to judge and evaluate the quality of our product
We use data extensively to deeply understand customer usage and then close the gaps between product hypotheses and business impact.
We expand testing abilities and knowhow across the team; understanding that this may reduce (or eliminate) the need for a dedicated testing specialist.

Special Guest: Alan Page.

Links:

74: Technical Interviews: Preparing For, What to Expect, and Tips for Success - Derrick Mar May 21, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I talk with Derrick Mar, CTO and co-founder of Pathrise.
This is the episode you need to listen to to get ready for software interviews.

We discuss four aspects of technical interviews that interviewers are looking for:
- communication
- problem solving
- coding
- verification
How to practice for the interview.
Techniques for synchronizing with interviewer and asking for hints.
Even how to ask the recruiter or hiring manager how to prepare for the interview.

If you or anyone you know has a software interview coming up, this episode will help you both feel more comfortable about the interview before you show up, and give you concrete tips on how to do better during the interview.

Special Guest: Derrick Mar.

Links:

73: PyCon 2019 Live Recording May 03, 2019

Show notes

This is a "Yay! It's PyCon 2019" episode.
PyCon is very important to me.
But it's kinda hard to put a finger on why.
So I figured I'd ask more people to help explain why it's important.
I ask a few simple questions to people about Python and PyCon and get some great insights into both the language popularity and the special place this conference holds to many people.

72: Technical Interview Fixes - April Wensel Apr 29, 2019

Show notes

Some typical technical interview practices can be harmful and get in the way of hiring great people. April Wensel offers advice to help fix the technical interview process.

She recommends:

hire for mindset and attitude
look for empathy and mentorship skills
allow candidates to show their strengths instead of hunting for weaknesses
have the candidate leave feeling good about themselves and your company, regardless of the hiring decision

Some topics discussed:

interview questions to bring out stories of skills and successes
stereotype threat
diversity
interview hazing
white boards
coding challenges
unconscious bias
emotional intelligence
myth of talent shortage
pair programming and collaboration during interviews
mirrortocracy
cultural add vs cultural fit
empathy
mentoring

This episode is important for anyone going into a technical interview, as a candidate, as a hiring manager, or as a member of an interview team.

Special Guest: April Wensel.

Links:

71: Memorable Tech Talks, The Ultimate Guide - Nina Zakharenko Apr 05, 2019

Show notes

Nina Zakharenko gives some great advice about giving tech talks.
We talk about a blog series that Nina wrote called "The Ultimate Guide To Memorable Tech Talks". This episode is full of great help and encouragement for your own public speaking adventures.

Some of what we discuss:

overcoming the fear of public speaking
breathing and pausing during talks
planning your talk as well as planning your time to get ready for the talk
writing proposals and getting feedback on proposals
Nina's talk in PyCascades on programming Adafruit chips
types of talks that are often rejected
pre-recording demos to avoid live demo problems
why you should speak, even if you are an introvert
benefits of public speaking
a super cool announcement at the end

Special Guest: Nina Zakharenko.

Links:

The Ultimate Guide To Memorable Tech Talks — Nina's series of posts with lots of advice on giving excellent tech talks.
Azure for Python developers — Tutorials, API Reference | Microsoft Docs
How to Do a Deep, Diaphragmatic Belly Breathing
Example accepted and rejected conference talk proposals — Nina's examples
Allison Kaptur's PyCon Proposal examples
Emily Morehouse's proposal examples.
Brandon Rhodes' example PyCon talk proposals
Nina's PyCascades talk on Python and LEDs — PyCascades – Light Up Your Life – With Python and LEDs, starts at 13:26.
Nina has a keynote at PyCon 2019 — woohoo!

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