Talk Description
Let me take you back in time to the 1980s and tell you a story. A story of an 8-year-old boy, seaside arcades, chunky cartridges, tape drives, floppy discs, pokes, cheats, and magazines full of code! This is the start of how I became a tester. Gaming is often written off as a wasteful pastime. Hours of time are sunk into playing the latest games, just to get kudos amongst other fellow gamers. Some do take it to extremes and ignore all other aspects of their lives. I would argue that gaming is a productive activity. Gamers test all the time. Gamers explore, model, tweak, mod, exploit and play to win! In this talk, we will discover how gaming can be a route to learning and better testing! I’ve learned a lot about the world of technology and testing through my love of games and gaming, and how it has supported and enhanced my life, as well as kickstarted a career in tech. So together, let's explore vast open worlds, side quests, secret rooms and special upgrades. Will the strategy you take determine success or failure in your goal? Let's discover together how gaming can really add huge XP to your testing!
Takeaways:
- Discover how aspects of gaming can assist in developing core testing skills, such as exploring and modelling
- How encouraging new skill acquisition such as coding and other tech skills, can be achieved by exploring the world of gaming.
- Begin to understand the approaches that gamers use to beat both the game, and their opponents, and how these can apply to testing.
Daniel Billing
Senior Software Engineer
Dan has been a tester for 20 years, working within a diverse range of development organisations, mostly in London and the south-west of England. He is now freelance test consultant, coach and trainer, but has worked within some complex industries and contexts. His skills include mentoring, supporting and training members of the team to develop their security skills also.
Dan’s love of testing drives him to become an active member of the testing community. He has organised international events and workshops in the testing community, and is a speaker at various international Agile, technology and testing conferences. He is also a co-host of the Screen Testing podcast, alongside Neil Studd.
