Interview With Jeff Papows (October 2010)

Jeff Papows sees trouble ahead for the software industry. We recently interviewed the former CEO of Lotus Development Corporation as part of our Testing the Limits series, where we discussed the growing severity of software bugs - which happens to be the subject of his latest book "Glitch: The Hidden Impact of Faulty Software." Here are some clips from this must-read Q&A:

On the biggest threat to the software industry: "About 70% of the world’s application inventory and the platform for the majority of our transaction processing is written in Cobol and run on IBM mainframes. The other side of the Dot Com bubble bursting is that graduating computer science majors and or math majors are off by about 37% and those that are graduating are interested and versed in Java, C++, etc. not Cobol. Also, for the first time in our careers/lifetimes, C.S. engineers are retiring, aging and dying. So how do we replace that codified knowledge from walking out our doors?"

On his rivalry with Bill Gates: "People often expect me to say nasty things about Bill, but I truly can’t. I worked with him and the BSA (Business Software Alliance) in Congress and the White House. Bill is passionate, brilliant and truly cares about what he is doing. I’d love to say something different when Bill Gates is concerned, but the truth is that whether you love Microsoft or hate them, no human being on the planet has done more of a service to the industry as Bill has."

Read the two-part interview from the beginning.

Quality Quotes

"Version 1 of any software is full of bugs. Version 2 fixes all the bugs and is great. Version 3 adds all the things users ask for, but hides all the great stuff in Version 2." - Fred Blechman "Quality means doing it right when no one is looking." - Henry Ford "Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live." - Martin Golding

Testing the Google Car

Of all the challenges that come with testing software, parallel parking isn't normally on the list. Then again, Google isn't your normal company. Here's the story of how Google engineers are testing the car that drives itself: "The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. With someone behind the wheel to take control if something goes awry and a technician in the passenger seat to monitor the navigation system, seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. One even drove itself down Lombard Street in San Francisco, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the nation. The only accident, engineers said, was when one Google car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light." Continue reading...

Free Whitepaper: Creating Killer Mobile Apps

Just when you thought you had the web all figured out, along comes mobile. The pressure to launch and maintain a user-friendly mobile app is increasing by the hour, and many software companies are falling behind. This whitepaper will explain how to overcome the challenges of creating a high-quality mobile app, including:

  • Mobile Web vs. Native Apps: Understand the benefits and drawbacks of both approaches
  • App Alternatives: The basics of wholesale app communities (WAC) and hybrid apps
  • The Mobile Matrix: How to sort through OS, browser, handset, carriers and other criteria
  • Mobile Testing Methods: Beta testing, outsourcing, simulators and other methods

Download this free whitepaper and get ready to launch the next killer mobile app.

Do Typos Count as Software Bugs?

Using Wikipedia's definition, we are able to classify all sorts of issues as valid software bugs - including typos. Here’s a news story from last week that sums this up perfectly: "The last name of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney is misspelled as “Rich Whitey” on electronic-voting machines in nearly two dozen wards — about half in predominantly African-American areas — and election officials said Wednesday the problem cannot be corrected by Election Day." Continue reading on the uTest blog...

Testers Around the World

Wonder how many testers we have in Ireland? What about the number of bugs submitted by testers in China? You can find all that and more with our interactive "Meet the Testers" feature, which also includes:

  • Tester experience by region
  • Ratings, profiles of featured testers
  • Regional breakdown of OS, browser and app type

With over 30,000 software testers from around the world, there's a lot you don't know about our community - so go ahead and Meet the Testers.