Bug deBug Testing Conference – An Unforgettable Learning Journey

Bug debug – The Software Testing Conference in Chennai

The Inception

It was a long awaited dream to do something towards the testing arena from the Chennai Chapter. Finally Bharath came up with the thought of conducting a software testing conference in the city. His rigorous efforts and ‘Never Give Up Attitude” took the form of “Bug debug” in collaboration with the Ria-Rui Society. The conference was scheduled to be conducted on Jan 29 2011. It was great to see people outside Chennai come in too. Such is the passion that drives people.

Pre-Excitement

The excitement for the same began almost a month back with great offerings from the event organizer giving out early bird discounts for the event. Added to this, a software testing contest was held teaming up with 99tests.com and the prizes were a lot tempting to be won. It was a wonderful opportunity to put one’s skill and competitive edge to action. The contest offered a stiff competition, with the contestants being very close to one another to take the leading position.

A Promising Agenda for the Event

The Schedule that was finalized was too good to be missed out. Eminent personalities from the testing industry – Vipul Kocher, Pradeep Soundararajan, Ajay Balamurugadas, Anuj Magazine were roped in as speakers to enlighten the tester participants. The content catered to every section of the audience be it a fresher/student or a professional. Jan 29 2011 The D day finally arrived and I went to the conference venue with a lot of excitement and an open mind with an expectation that at the end of it all, I would have gained rich knowledge. It started with the registration process, and the registered participants were given a participant kit, which constituted the event schedule, puzzle, promotions from the sponsors and a feedback form. Wow, it looked oh so professional that I started to feel that I would be attending a hi-profile conference. Seeing the feedback form, I could sense that the team behind this event were serious about their business and were keen on providing quality service.

From the Speakers Knowledge Treasure Basket

The Key note began with Vipul Kocher, who spoke about the challenges in testing. Speaking further on it he spoke about the following which were truly thought provoking:

•     Meaning of testing to different stakeholders
•     Have you tested enough? How much do I need to test?
•     Oracle Problem
•     How many test cases should I write?
•     How do I choose the right set of regression tests?
•     How do I get developers to do better testing
•    Do I need coding skills?
•    How do I teach testing to my testers?
•    Where is Innovation in testing?

The audience got a quick glimpse of tools like Sahi & Selenium from Narayan Raman & Ruturaj Doshi

Pradeep Soundararajan gave an insight on the skills that a tester needs to possess to better themselves as a promising tester and also the activities that would help the tester achieve this goal. He emphasized that one needs to revolutionize themselves to be a better thinker and a better tester.

A talk on the emerging trend of Cloud Computing and Software Testing by Anuj Magazine was a lot interesting.

This was followed by Ajay Balamurugadas’s tips for being a good bug hunter, wherein he shared his learnings that helped him to be a world class tester that he is today. His topic that said “I Am the Bug Hunter” , made me very curious to hear his talk.

The final presentation was by Praveen Singh, the proud founder of 99tests.com. He spoke about Testing at Startups and it was inspiring when he shared his story of how he came up with 99tests.com. It’s a truly remarkable find by Praveen Singh because personally I felt that taking part in such contests like in those offered by 99tests.com, would make a tester stretch himself out of the comfort zone and motivate him to do his best. Kudos to Praveen on 99tests.com

Also Praveen highlighted that a tester needs to build their testing skills and make themselves known to the world outside their 4 walled cubicle.

In Between the Breaks

The testers were asked to share their testing tips and it was good to see testers penning them down during the tea and lunch breaks. Also they caught up with one another during this time. Not to forget mentioning that the lunch was lip smacking – ‘Slrrrp’ !!!!!!! :-))

All well that ends well

The conference was concluded with raffles and prize distribution. Am happy that I secured a 3rd  place in the contest conducted by 99tests.com

There was a Q & A session wherein intelligent questions from the testers were awarded. All in all, Bug debug was a very informative & successful testing conference.

To top it all, the participants got an opportunity to interact with their testing idols and also build a network with the other testers. So to say, it was as a mind blowing experience or rather should I say that people, who missed out being there, missed out something BIG TIME ! I hope they ensure that they don’t miss out on such events going forward.

I am glad that I attended Bug debug for I walked out with so so much more than what I expected out of it.

Note of Thanks

 I would take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Bug debug team for coming up with this conference. The event was awesome in every perspective. It truly reflected the tremendous amount of hardwork gone behind it. Their hardwork is truly commendable and very much appreciated.

Bug debug Team – Keep Rocking Folks !!!!!

My Heart Longs for More

After getting the feel of what its like at the Bug debug conference, I definitely look forward for many more such events to come.

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