Uncovered thoughts

Sergio Freire's personal blog on software testing, agile.

Cover Image for AI vision in home automation

AI is all around. Can I use it for enhancing home automation scenarios? Few days ago OpenAI released the GPT-4 vision capabilities on their API, so I thought on using AI and GPT4 vision models to analyze images of a security camera connected to a well-known home automation system: Home Assistant.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire

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Cover Image for Exploratory Testing Principles 1.0

Exploratory Testing Principles 1.0

This v1.0 of my Exploratory Testing Principles. But what is a principle?

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Exporting test runs to InfluxDB and Grafana

Exporting test runs to InfluxDB and Grafana

After doing a similar exercise with Splunk, I decided to give a try to Grafana along with InfluxDB. The idea was to use Grafana to analyze and visualize test results...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Exporting test runs to Splunk

Exporting test runs to Splunk

Experimentation is part of the learning process. Quite often I'm challenged with trying out new tools, integrate with them, learn from them. I do like challenges. This week someone asked about exporting information (i.e., test runs) from a well-known test management solution, Xray, where I work btw, to Splunk.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Contributing to an open-source testing project: Playwright

Contributing to an open-source testing project: Playwright

I am very excited to have sucessfuly contributed to Playwright, a cross-platform, cross-language, open-source end-to-end testing framework backed by Microsoft and a large community. From here onwards, you can embed additional information (e.g., screenshots, metrics, notes) on the tests so that it can be shown later on in Jira, for example.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Automation is not the goal

Automation is not the goal

Some teams and some people think that automation is the goal. But is it? Let us find out.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Can we postpone quality?

Can we postpone quality?

Can we postpone quality? The speed of change is increasing, the demand for change is also increasing. Knowing that quality is multidimensional, and that time is also part of those dimensions, we need to handle quality matters wisely, by being prepared as much as we can.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for ATOMYQ: Another Testing Oriented Model w/ Yummy Quality

ATOMYQ: Another Testing Oriented Model w/ Yummy Quality

During my talk, I covered the richness of "quality", all the possible meanings we can have related to it. But also, what "value" means and where does it come from. I came up with a new model: ATOMYQ...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for EuroSTAR 2021: Working with teams to improve quality

EuroSTAR 2021: Working with teams to improve quality

I participated on EuroSTAR with a talk around the "engage" theme. What better than talk about engaging in our own teams in order to improve quality from multiple perspectives?

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Some perspectives on quality

Some perspectives on quality

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in an assessment with 7 distinct teams to understand a bit more about their overall development process, including their approach on testing and quality. We tried to uncover a bunch of different things, related to collaboration, practices, tooling, CI/CD, testing, ...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Quality in simple words

Quality in simple words

What is quality?! This is a recurring topic and ongoing discussion. Maybe it’s an emotion or it perhaps a comparison? Is there a simple way to define it? ...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Implementing a review process for EuroSTAR testing conference

Implementing a review process for EuroSTAR testing conference

I was invited to review some submissions for EuroSTAR 2021 testing conference. I had never done it before, and even if time is scarce I understand that this is important for many who submit during the Call For Speakers; it's also a learning experience for me. But how have I tackled this task? How can I make sure I'm fair enough to everyone?

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Shifting Towards Omni Testing: Part 2

Shifting Towards Omni Testing: Part 2

We all heard about Shift-Left Testing and Shift-Right Testing in recent years. Probably you may have got the idea that it was the thing, that single idea that was going to massively improve your testing. Due to this misconception, for example, Janet Gregory prefers to think about testing as something always happening and holistic...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Shifting Towards Omni Testing: Part 1

Shifting Towards Omni Testing: Part 1

Testing, as we foreseek, is something not limited to time, not limited to space, not limited to a specific team member, not limited to a given type, technique or approach; it is a process we use to understand something, to obtain more information about it so that we can take actions on it...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Model-based and sequential testing: a brief comparison

Model-based and sequential testing: a brief comparison

In this post I will do a brief comparison between "traditional" (i.e. sequential) automated tests/checks with MBT (Model-Based Testing), using some concrete examples including code, to reflect about it.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Model-based testing (MBT): quick overview

Model-based testing (MBT): quick overview

For some time I have heard about model-based testing technique and I wanted to know a bit more about it. I will share my learnings in several posts as I take this road. I was lucky to be able to attend an online workshop from Black-Box Software Testing on State Model Based Testing...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for The Quality Ice Cream Truck

The Quality Ice Cream Truck

The "Quality Ice Cream Truck" is a model, and as such it represents a fallible, non-perfect, perspective on value and its relations to quality and testing. In the Quality Ice Cream Truck all is around value as we'll see...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Improving performance, security, accessibility, SEO and more

Improving performance, security, accessibility, SEO and more

I want to share with you how I dramatically improved some key aspects of my personal website, including performance, accessibility and more. Performance increased by more than 300%! And I did it in the Agile way, using one *secret* of Agile many times forgotten: I hope it becomes clear throughout this article...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Unknown Series on Testing E01: The Needs

Unknown Series on Testing E01: The Needs

Some time ago, I decided to tackle a tough problem: the unknown. I do love tough problems because they make me think, question, and ultimately have a better understanding even if that understanding is acknowledging that I don’t have an answer... yet.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Introducing the Unknown Series on Testing

Introducing the Unknown Series on Testing

Some time ago, I decided to tackle a tough problem: the unknown. I do love tough problems because they make me think, question, and ultimately have a better understanding even if that understanding is acknowledging that I don’t have an answer... yet.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Simple, yet useful tips for working remotely effectively

Simple, yet useful tips for working remotely effectively

A long, long time ago, in a distant galaxy, I started working in a company where I had an office just to myself and two colleagues. I remember that I had this music a bit loud; there was a colleague in the same space that was already "tired" of the same music :) With the company growing, we move to an open space scenario which was more challenging, namely in terms of sound isolation and distraction. I realized how to work in a shared space bit by bit, with my own mistakes; we all learned...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Improving Testing through Testing Debt Quadrants

Improving Testing through Testing Debt Quadrants

I was lucky to attend Euro Testing Conference 2020, in Amsterdam, last month; I learned so much. One of the workshops that I attended was Rob Meaney's "Exploring Testability" which inspired me to try something within my team. At the conference, we did a hands-on exercise related to testing debt. Testing what?! Debt! This article will explain the testing debt concept, how to make it visible and how to address it.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for European Testing Conference: my first and last experience and my takeaways

European Testing Conference: my first and last experience and my takeaways

Some time ago, I had heard that EuroTestConf / ETC (i.e. European Testing Conference) was something different, where you could attend and learn so much, not just with the talks and workshops, but also with the attendees, no matter if they're speakers or not. Everyone has a perspective, everyone can bring something positive to the table. You may learn and you also may provide feedback, insights and your own perspectives to others...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for RoboCon 2020: a first impression on Robot Framework gathering

RoboCon 2020: a first impression on Robot Framework gathering

I was lucky enough to attend Robot Framework's annual gathering, the 2020 edition, in Helsinki with the amazing Robot community. In the picture above you may see me together with Pekka Klärck, the "father" of Robot Framework; he is a very open person and a great contributor for the whole RF ecosystem. But before going...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for A strategy for implementing test automation from scratch in a complex system

A strategy for implementing test automation from scratch in a complex system

Several years ago I worked for a telco company, a more or less R&D branch of it. From the several roles I had, my latest one was being a "technology consultant". I was part of a centralized team whose focus was processes, trending technologies, tooling, CI/CD, etc...

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire
Cover Image for Sprint 1 of my website, doing it in Agile way :)

Sprint 1 of my website, doing it in Agile way :)

Before 2019 ends, it's time to reborn and create my space, my spot to talk about many things, including software testing, Agile and more. Decoration and content will come with time.

Sergio Freire
Sergio Freire