Issue #210 : Software Testing Notes
Quality Isn't a Testing Problem
Hello there! 👋
Welcome to the 210th edition of Software Testing Notes, a weekly newsletter featuring must-read content on Software Testing. I hope this week has been good for you so far.
This week, we will explore:
Maslow’s Hammer and Three Lies QA Tells Itself
Most Test Cases Are a Waste of Time, But Here’s What Good Testers Do Instead
TypeScript Testing Patterns: Unit, Integration, and E2E Strategies That Scale
Custom JMeter extension that simplifies both load testing setup
Your AI Agent Has No Tests - Here’s How to Fix That in 5 Minutes
and more…
📚 Testing
Testing the “Yes-Man” in Your Pocket by Jeff Nyman
Another fascinating article from Jeff Nyman, this one is about Stanford-led study showing how today’s AI models, optimized for agreement, can subtly reinforce harmful behavior and it’s a sharp reminder that testing AI now means measuring real human impact and not just model accuracy.
Maslow's Hammer and Three Lies QA Tells Itself by Filip Hric
Filip Hric truly captures the growing unease in QA circles as AI reshapes development, pushing back on the comforting narratives and arguing that testing isn’t immune to the broader transformation already underway.
Quality Isn't a Testing Problem by Alan Page
Alan Page challenges the long-standing assumption that testing equals quality, arguing instead that quality is shaped by organizational systems, incentives, and feedback loops.
Anatomy of a deceptive "works on my machine" bug by Benjamin Bischoff
This is a nicely told deep dive by Benjamin Bischoff into a classic “works on my machine” bug that turns out to be anything but simple. This is a great reminder of how easily environment drift and small communication gaps can mislead even experienced team.
Most Test Cases Are a Waste of Time, But Here’s What Good Testers Do Instead by Melvin Salazar
Melvin Salazar pushes back on the comforting idea that more test cases equal better quality, arguing instead that real value comes from risk-driven thinking, exploration, and challenging assumptions rather than just coverage.
You Can’t Spell “Testability” Without “Stability” by Joshua Bihun
Joshua Bihun explores the all-too-familiar frustration of flaky tests and inconsistent QA results and shares how the real culprit is often an unstable test environment rather than poor testing itself.
🔍 Software Testing
⚙️ Automation
TypeScript Testing Patterns: Unit, Integration, and E2E Strategies That Scale by Matthias Bruns
Matthias Bruns walks through how testing in TypeScript shifts the focus from catching basic errors to building a scalable, layered testing strategy. It’s a practical take on balancing types with tests, though it does make you wonder how many teams truly reduce test volume as suggested or just keep adding more on top of what TypeScript already guarantees.
Your AI Agent Has No Tests - Here's How to Fix That in 5 Minutes by Kang
Kang introduces a testing framework for AI agents that shifts focus from prompt or output validation to how tools are chosen, errors handled, and decisions made in between.
Beyond Pass and Fail: Building a Playwright Observability Layer by Viatsheslav (Slavik) Pashanin
Viatsheslav reframes Playwright from a simple pass/fail testing tool into a full-fledged observability layer, treating tests as signals for different audiences.
🔍 Test Automation
💨 Performance
I Built a Single JMeter Jar That Handles Dynamic Thread Group, Auto Correlation, and Boundary Extraction — Here’s How It Works by Jagadeesh Sakamuri
Jagadeesh Sakamuri has created a custom JMeter extension that simplifies both load testing setup and the correlation process, aiming to replace cluttered configurations with a more bearable, almost “one-click” approach.
🔍 Performance Testing
🌞 Accessibility
Accessibility Regression Testing With XCUI by Mark Steadman
Mark Steadman shows how Xcode 15’s built-in performAccessibilityAudit() makes automated accessibility checks in XCUI tests.
Mobile app accessibility under EN 301 549 v4.1.0
This piece walks through how the upcoming EN 301 549 update reshapes mobile accessibility testing by aligning more closely with WCAG 2.2, clarifying long-standing ambiguities (like how to treat web views), and expanding what teams are expected to validate across app layers.
🔍 Accessibility Testing
🛠️ Resources & Tools
AgentProbe — Playwright for AI Agents — test what your agent DOES, not what it SAYS. YAML-first, 2900+ tests.
Dynamic Thread Group & Auto Correlation — Dynamic Thread Group, Auto Correlation, and Boundary Extractor for JMeter
📝 List of Software Testers
Do you create content around Software Testing ? Submit yours blog details here and I will add it to the list.
🎁 Bonus Content
📌 OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
⭐ LAST WEEK’S MOST READ
Testing LLM Outputs: A Hands-On Guide to DeepEval Metrics by Serhii Smetanskyi
Who Tests the Tests? AI, QA, and the Verification Paradox by Irfan Mujagić
From Prompt to Passing Test: A Complete Agentic QA Session by Ivan Davidov
😂 And Finally,
The real guinea pigs of the IT world now! 🤣
📨 Send Me Your Articles, Tutorials, Tools!
Wrote something? Send links via Direct Message on Twitter @thetestingkit (details here). If you have any suggestions for improvement or corrections, feel free to reply to this email.
Thanks to everyone for subscribing and reading!
Happy Testing!
Pritesh(@priteshusdadiya)