ConfPad

I often used to feel that if we only had more time for testing, we’d find all the bugs and everything would be awesome. But the longer I’ve been working on software projects, the more times I’ve seen that this might not be true. Most of the escaped defects in my recent memory were hiding in the areas I didn’t even know to ask about, in the small differences between our test and production environments, and in the things we depend on but don’t have full control over. So lately, while I will always value doing good testing, it doesn’t feel as useful to spend a lot of time striving for truly excellent coverage. Instead, I prefer to invest in planning for phased roll outs, and gaining confidence in our ability to quickly detect and resolve problems in production. I’d like to share a few stories about defects I missed that I wouldn’t have found with all the time in the world, and about times I have been saved by solid monitoring and roll-back strategies.