QA : The Story So Far

Legacy : Where were we?

Software Testing, as I’ve seen and practiced as a profession, was primarily a phase in software development in the early years of software revolution. At the start of IT boom that happened around 1999-2000, only a handful then believed that software testing can be offered as an independent service. This opened up a new horizon of third party testing teams and testing companies that were not in-house to the software development teams. They offered a wide range of “software testing” solutions. In other words, software testing phase got a new perspective of being independent and unbiased in ensuring pronounced quality. It churned out altogether a new set of roles, responsibilities, career domains and admittedly new challenges and problems to solve. In fact a range of software testing tools were in the market for that matter. By 2010, software testing as a service had become an inseparable and an integral aspect in decision making war rooms of software development. Practically, without a “Testing Sign Off”, even a single patch of software was a “No-Go” into live.  

Transformation: where are we?

At the start of the previous decade, the leadership in most of the companies realised “Quality” as a primary indicator for software solutions. Dedicated investments in software testing domain were made to ensure top quality is achieved. The word was “No Compromise on Quality”. SLAs, although were in practice since the beginning, got a new found significance from quality perspective. Traditional waterfall models of software development declined with increasing demand on quality. V & V and Iterative and Incremental models of development became popular with primary importance and focus on quality right from the initial stages of software development life cycle such as Requirement collection and elicitation. This was indeed the transformational phase where software solutions went from being “Business Need” to “Business Need with Quality”. And for the record, with the advent of internet that eventually became faster by the day, a whole new level of products and solutions saw the light of the day. Web applications became ubiquitous. They in effect transformed the user experience. “Who is first in the market?” was the trend in the later part of the previous decade. This gave Software Testing an all the more impending challenges of lesser “Time” and better quality, although automation of redundant tasks addressed this challenge to some extent. Faster the testing, earlier to the market. Meanwhile, software testing no longer remained as an independent service. Nevertheless, it remained unbiased in nature. It became increasingly to be known as Quality Assurance. Transformation from “Achieving Quality” to “Quality Assurance”. Quality Assurance was defined as an essential process into the software development. Back to the trend, Agility and Agile processes began replacing V and V models. These processes and methodologies gave a new breath to software testing and provided  the much needed scope to introduce automation in chunks without compromising on quality. However, the challenge of “Time” still remained as elusive. This can be attributed primarily to certain aspects such as resources including tools, skill sets and necessary training. Automation has become a mandatory skill set.

Data Driven : Where next? 

Can you imagine a world that is data driven? Yes. We are at the cusp of taking that leap. Indeed it is inevitable. I remember myself giving a short technical talk on Data Science back in 2014 but then, I had, in-principle, little idea how QA fits into it. You see numerous buzzwords these days such as Data Science, AI/ML, Digital Transformations, Big Data, et cetera, floating around. However, at the core of many of these is The Data. It is  this Data that is providing new insights and perspectives that define new problems. Again it is the same Data that is being used to solve those said problems. If you notice, most of the startups and even business enterprises these days talk about “what problem they have solved?” 

Have you not seen LinkedIn profiles of many leaders with a keyword “storyteller”? I would rather recommend you do it first, which I figured it out lately. Again, How did they solve the problem that they are narrating? The Answer is, the same Data from which they defined the problem statement. But then you must be pondering how is QA relevant here. Well, with increasing significance on Data, QA becomes heavily dependent on the same Data. QA here has the challenge to ensure the problem defined is indeed solved. Testing including automation has to scale up and be Data Driven by remaining independent, unbiased, time bound and more importantly “No compromise on Quality”. 

P.S.: I intend to make this as a series of articles around Quality Assurance and this is the first of such articles to start with. Also, the years mentioned are approximations to indicate the period of time. 

Pledge To Vote - Elect Country’s Leader

This summer 2019 is one crucial point of time that decides fate of the largest democracy in the world. Elections have commenced in an electorate of over 1.25 billion people; nearly 1/6th of the world population. Now ranked 6th in terms of GDP, India is poised to take its story high. 

Yes, make no mistake, The story of India is at cross roads “again”. 

Remember, America wasn’t built in day, Europe wasn’t built in a day and even the story of our arch-friend-foe China wasn’t built in a day. They too, like India, were at some point in time at the similar cross roads. And they made the right call and rest is history. 

One wrong outcome would entirely change the direction this country and ultimately its destiny. We were already at this same cross road in 2004 but unfortunate fate had its way and we fell back to a decade of decay from 2004 to 2014. We betrayed a leader like Vajpayee and gave away the country to crooks. 

Fortunately, we are at the same cross road “again”. 

In a democracy, electoral freebies are words of doom in the long run. Venezuela for example; And India can’t afford such a scenario with over a billion people at this point of time where wars are being fought in cyberspace and lives are connected on cellphones in your hands.

I appeal to you my friends - Pledge to Vote  keeping the country’s interest in mind. Your vote may not return you hefty incentives as per your personal expectations but it certainly does return to the country and to its future generations to come. 

P.S: I’ve no second thoughts about my vote. Its already Modi’s. 

Mysuru Dasara : An Ode to Vijayanagara

Another year and Mysuru is bracing up for a spectacular show of traditional parade, pageant, expo and extravaganza. A celebration rightly dubbed as “Naada Habba” across the state of Karnataka during the 10 days of Mahanavami and Vijayadashami. People throng from across different parts of the world to witness this traditional exhibition of Mysuru’s pomp and glory. 

The word Mysuru is not just the name of a place but rather an identity for many a folks and folklores especially for a few southern states of India. Mysuru Dasara is not just a festival but rather an illustrious manifestation of an empire that stood rock solid as a protector against the marauding Invaders. 

Bend some time and time-travel back to the early 16th century during the days of Mahanavami. Bend some space too, and find yourself in front of Hazararama Temple of Hampi. In the chronology of time, you are at a place what was once the capital city of the glorious Vijayanagara Empire and rightfully so, your King was Sri Krishnadevaraya.

Make no mistake, at this precise time and place, you are certainly an audience to what we proudly call Mysuru Dasara today. True, today’s Dasara is erstwhile Mahanavami and Vijayadashami celebrations of Vijayanagara Empire. To this day, the Mahanavami Dibba or The Mahanavami Platform in Hampi is a living testimony to the roots of Mysuru Dasara festival. The festival since then is celebrated in all its pomp and grandeur of traditions. The deity of Goddess Chamundeshwari being at the centre of it all. The Hazararama temple in Hampi is decorated with many a walls that display  sculptures depicting various festivities of arts and celebrations during the festival. A beautiful sight to behold. Events for singing, dancing, literature and guest hosting were the prime attractions for ten days. Vijayadashami celebrations also commemorated the lives of those who laid down to protect the good against the evil forces of invaders. 

After the tragic fall of Vijayanagara in the late 16th century, its vassal state of the Wodeyars of Mysuru voluntarily carried the baton of Mahanavami or Dasara and left no stone unturned to keep its continuity to this day. The first such celebrations took place in Srirangapatna near Mysuru under the Kingship of Raja Wodeyar I. Four centuries on, today the millennials are witnessing the same with much more enthusiasm. 

Thus, Mysuru Dasara is in many ways a festival of an identity of people whose ancestors were once proud citizens of a glorious Empire. 

Thus, Mysuru Dasara is a “Naada Habba” in all its true essence. 

Thus, Mysuru Dasara is an Ode to Vijayanagara.

Kaveri Dispute - Need Water or Conservation?

Just when all the cricket fans across India and the world over are bracing for another festive cricketing season of IPL, there were shallow calls and protests on Kaveri river water sharing issue during first home game for CSK. The protest turned so ugly that shoes were hurled at players. A South African player even took to Twitter and pleaded with folded hands. This, by all means, is a political hijack of layman's perception before he even ponders over a meak issue. A demand to setup water sharing board that will soon grow its thick skin of corruption in the name of a holy river that feeds millions living across three states of India - Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. 

The agony of Indians is that an agenda is always setup by opportunist politicians without the grossest knowledge of the issues whatsoever. This soon transcends into a show of strength on streets with protests by people for and against the issues. Memes and jokes get circulated over whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter. The reach is completed. People start falling for perceptions. Media fuels it by brazen and repeated loud shouts. The objective of the issue is nowhere to be seen and it will sadly rest in peace. Tragedy strikes once again on those poor souls who otherwise could have earned their daily bread only by the end of a hard-toiled day unlike the white and day scholars who anyway get a pay check on the month ends. Thus, the hijack is complete.

Thankfully but shamelessly, BCCI is so powerful and rich that it hardly gives two hoots to such hyped up melodrama. At Godspeed it even managed to shift all CSK matches to Pune and clearly asserting BCCI is the Boss. 

What then is the issue? 

Answer - Setting up of a Central Board for sharing Kaveri River Water. A board the objectives of which even the protesters won't know about for sure. It is a board to amicably share river's water across the states she runs through and that too when enough committees are already munching tax payers money. 

It has been a tragedy before, a tragedy now and continues to be so for nobody cares to ask where is the water to share?

What have the state governments done to conserve and sustain the river water?

Running up to Higher courts during a water crises is a big time fool thuggery practiced by either of the state governments. None of them cared for the river until then. The travesty of it all is such that they even engineered riots on their very own people on either side of the states. I just wish that karma serves them up the coldest. 

And yet much can still be done before things span out of control and war of the waters descend upon the innocents. There are few practical approaches that can be adopted and realised. 

First, the hard one, an unbiased data sharing of water resources to the tune of need and not greed. Meanwhile, all the states can take numerous river rejuvenation steps like afforestation along the river and rivulet catchment areas. Strict urbanisation controls along the river.

Second, the harder one, Interlinking of rivers, although scientifically well researched this one needs a boldest leaders across the states to implement. This too like many other shallow issues is hijacked by lobbying groups and agenda setting activists with their all "profitable" NGOs.

Third, the hardest one, Desalination units along the coastal lines. All southern states have lengthy coastlines. Desalination is yet the easiest of the earlier two solutions. All that each state can do is "give up" the money that that loot in one scan and seriously use it to set up these ambitious desalination units along the coastlines. The tech that comes up is no doubt alarmingly advanced but at the same time expensive plus the maintenance. But there is lot of money, much more money with states that they can definitely invest on one such good cause project. 

Sooner the realisation better the future. Hope the good virtues will dawn on our politicians. 

Budget and The Curious Case of The Salaried Class

I keenly followed the Budget Speech by our Finance Minister Sri Arun Jaitley on Feb 01, 2017 for two things.  Firstly, as an honest tax payer, it is my right to know how the government is spending the money it collected as tax on my income.  Secondly, it is also my right to know what benefits are in store from the Government’s Budget as a citizen, in particular as a middle class tax payer. The Budget is a broader term as far as the Nation is concerned. Expectations from her citizens relatively run high during every budget in a country as large and as diverse as India, which for most of the decades after her independence remained economically oppressed by divisive and dynastic politics.

Since the end of the Budget Day Speech my cell phone is buzzing with WhatsApp forwards and SMSs  most of which were insensible jokes on Budget with insensible numbers and illogical judgements. This has certainly made me dig further about the claims that floating in the social like “Government fools middle class”, “middle class pays tax but gets nothing in the budget”. It is understandable that some sections of the society will never be happy with this budget but seriously it is my own feeling that this is a landmark budget that the Government has ever made.

But then it does not yet answer my two expectations. Let me take a look at the second question first because I belong to that middle class paying tax ‘honestly’.

In a nutshell, the expectations of middle and salaried class from any budget are lesser tax on their income.

Has ‘this Government’ addressed it?

Well, I will not believe in and go by the rhetoric, so I’ll try to consolidate the data points “because that is how salaried class appraisals are also evaluated”. So let us recap and do the due diligence on budgets since 2014. Here is a quick summary before I put the details

Year 2014-15, the first budget of ‘this government’

1. The basic exemption slab raised to 2.5 lakhs. This was 1.8 lakhs up until 2014.
2.  Section 80C limit raised to 1 Lakh. This was 1 Lakh up until 2014.
3.  Home Loan Deduction Limit raised to 2 Lakhs.

Year 2015-16,

1. Additional Deduction of up to 50,000 for investments in NPS schemes. This was 0 up until 2015.
2. Wealth Tax removed. Have you heard any government removing a tax such as this?
3. Medical Insurance Premium deduction raised to 60,000. This was 40,000.
4. The ‘rich’ who earned above 1 Crores had to pay a surcharge of up to 12 %. You see now the rich have to pay more tax (sit tight you are still middle class).

Year 2016-17,

1. Not much was there in this budget for salaried class except that rebate hiked to 5000 for a salaried class earning up to 5 lakhs; which is nothing but the government would pay back in case you have paid more tax.
2. Again the ‘rich’ who earned above 1 Crores had to pay a surcharge of up to 15%. This was 12% previous year. So more tax paid by the ‘rich’ (Remember, you are middle class still).

Year 2017-18,

1. New slabs introduced 5% 20% and 30%. Most of the people who come in the career span of 3-4 years squarely fall in the 5 % bracket.

Year 2018-19,

1.  Standard deduction of 40,000 introduced and no more medical bills to claim medical expenses which many salaried classes claimed with fake bills. No offense to those who produced genuine bills.
2. Education Cess increased from 3 to 4 %. This will be applied on the taxable income after all exemptions and investments.

So when I think of all these budget points for salaried class since 2014, I saved more by investing to avail the budget provisions meant for exemption and paid less in tax. Is it not curious enough to ponder why the salaried class should term this year’s budget as “bad” while enjoying the benefits year over year including this year.  Doing the math should be easy provided now you have all the data points at your disposal. Did you save more money or did you pay more tax?

Now coming to my first expectation, what is the government doing with the money I paid in the form of tax whether it is direct or indirect?

If one hears out the budget in summary, the government has diligently touched upon every section of the society with no trace of appeasement or populism in whatever form unlike yester years regimes. The government has stuck to basics and allocated the money for the betterment of poor and the weaker sections of India which are largely deprived of necessities even as basic as sanitation, education and healthcare. It is both unfortunate and tragic to hear the slogans such as “Gareebi Hatao” and various “Bhagyas” did nothing up until this budget which has attempted to practically address such sloganeering. The National Health Care Scheme is a remarkable announcement for the poor who had little or no access to basic health care.

So the answer to my expectation is that my bucks are safe and they are empowering the poor in terms of their quality of life, education and healthcare. 

Two Thoughts on Nostalgia

  Two Thoughts on Nostalgia

Of late I am coming across many nostalgic articles, pics and videos of those good old vintage years back in 80s and 90s. Too many but they are indeed nostalgic, certainly giving goose bumps and make you not to shrug off those days from the memory in the midst of current revolution of mobile and smart devices. Truly so, kids born in 80s and 90s have witnessed almost every technological inventions and innovations right from the heavy 12-channel cathode ray TV sets to the remote controlled lucid LED screens. Not just technology, it is also in the manner how we have been receptive of those inevitable changes going on around us. Majority of them were trend setters, weren’t they? Take a trivial case of men’s trousers itself. First were the star-look bell bottoms, then came the formal parallels, next came the official slim-fits and tapers. And not to forget, that our generation was the first owners of denim jeans apparels.

Every other horizon you were or are acquainted with has perpetually presented those trends which ultimately moved many a thing out of fashion; be it a video game, a TV serial, a sport or sometimes people themselves. Yes, Sports too. And that has been the sole point in my mind all along while nagging about nostalgia.

Though hailing from a small town, I would rather consider myself lucky playing many outdoor sports in those days. I’ve come across both, popular ones like cricket, football and badminton and less popular ones like Kho-Kho, Kabaddi and Volleyball. I’ve a very genuine reason to draw the line between popular and less popular. And by all means less popular does not imply they are unpopular; they are popular but relatively in much lesser degree than the mainstream popular ones. Some of you may disagree on this observation which is humbly acceptable. Nevertheless, these sports are officially recognized by institutions all around and they will sustain even if they keep shrinking in their popularity amidst all the onslaught of computer and video games.

Parallel to these, there are or were many outdoor games which have become so rare to be seen among the current generation kids. There was this gilli-danda and there was that Lagori. There were marbles, there were tops and then there were kites. Indeed, they’ve become so rare except in few rural parts, children of this generation are surely oblivion to these traditional games. These are the very games that still make me feel nostalgic and bring back those childhood memories of the bloody injuries, unforgettable escapes and hilarious jokes.

I can still recount the incident which brought upon a scar on my forehead while playing the Top. Those free falls off the tree while trying to free the kite from its branches. And on one occasion, unawares to my senses my palms were covered with bloody scratches in the process of coating kite’s thread using some glue amalgamated with glass powder.

Sometimes, when we are discussing these games and the memories that one has about them are so refreshing and rejuvenating. They quietly make you feel elated and for once your complex problems look simpler and sometimes seem irrelevant. Unlike the mainstream and scholastic games which are either too popular or officially recognized, the games of folklore are highly traditional with no rule books and word of mouth has been the lonely means of publicity for them. The lesser this generation knows about them the lesser its next generation will be aware of such games. May be a decade or two from now, it looks quite imminent that these games would just be stories and disappear or dissolve into the unwritten pages of the folklore. Hoping against hope that they will sustain just like the less popular games and that they continue to spawn their charm among the young and the future generations.

Shantaram

Shantaram who? Or atleast how does the name sounds? i guess most of you could think of the name for a swamy or a saint or for a religious chanting. Well, let me keep it for myself for a while , but not too long jus before i finish this blog.

Many of you must have read sensational, thrillin, mind-blowin, romantic, hard-to-put-down, suspense, heart-throbbin.... oh man, will i jus runout of words to club all kinda categories from the world of novels? i should guess so. Whatsoever, every book has its own literature to unveil at expose! exaggeratin the art of thought-to-hand.

But this one novel i finished turnin pages recently had it all, all the stuff that could be enjoyed in all the categories of books, i mentioned before, put together. A stubborn classic work of literature, and i mean the word stubborn with intensity.

Moreover, what surprises about this book is its an autobiography of a criminal elaboratin deep aspects of his life. The chronology of events is so acutely recollected from the memory banks which makes the book look more fictional, infact some part of it is, than non-fictional.

Nevertheless, its a complete capture of emotions right through a smile to laugh, anxiety to rage, scary to horrible, pale to sorrow, sobbin to outcry, like to love, foe to friends, sick to worse, betray to promise, owe to favor, fate to luck.... oh my god! thats infinite but worth mentionin. So much more to each and every character, that appear inline to the story.

Theres so much enough and voluminous wisdom all along the book, in every page, with well-tailored reality and philosophy. And let me put it straight that, its not like any philosophical volume penned by someone like Paulo coelho.

The guy then was a freakin criminal ( did wrong things for right reasons ) and now a philanthropist who along with his wife and others has set up charity in the name of "Heart For India", heartforindia.org, to serve the destitutes of the country he loves and owes so much, thats India. And to add more, one of its center is in Mylapore, Chennai.

Above all the book deals most of the time answerin "How to move on?" and i bet u'll certainly find an answer to atleast one of the difficult questions of ur life. Its a damn dashin read, you jus could not resist yourself to miss a word.Well, i cannot further reveal the insights of the beauty of this remarkably impressive autobiography. I dont either expect critics or force you to read the book.

All i can say, about the book, is "You would love to be a criminal after readin this book."

Explore it yourself! its kinda "must-read" or precisely "dont-miss" category.