What is the first thing you ever tested?

Passive Optical Network Modulation Device!

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Fun question! The first thing I tested was an auto insurance quoting application. I was responsible for manually generating quoting and verifying them manually against the algorithm. It was tedious work, and we moved quite quickly to automated those extremely repetitive parts.

I don’t do all that much hands-on testing these days, but I definitely miss those earlier parts of my career where I didn’t know really anything about testing, and had to bootstrap everything. Thankfully our industry has really advanced, particularly over the past 15 years.

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Probably a Datatrieve solution for recording results of a government research project on a VAX back in the 80s - I would have tested it before using it as a source to create a solution for a new project as nothing was documented back then and it would have been the only easy way to find out what it did.

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My college homework before submitting it :slight_smile:

My goal was always to test it harder than I thought the professor was going to. I once threw a million-line text file repeating Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” at my text sort algorithm.

In terms of work, the communication protocol for a centrifuge. Which was really more like unit testing as I was developing it.

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An email marketing company - so many features like file uploads, sending campaigns out etc

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Personally - my parent’s patience

Professionally - A Caller Line Identification Screenpop tool, when I worked at a call centre in 2000.

Arguably, before that, the code I used to write at home on my ZX Spectrum and Commodore Amiga. I would often write games code, to either create games, or assist in gameplay (some call that cheating :rofl:)

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I tested a micro-chip assembler and simulator. It was fun!
Developers tried to cajole me to go soft in testing by buying me lunch. When it didn’t work, they tried to intimidate me by passing snide comments. When that also didn’t work, they even thought of strangling me!

Well, I survived all that, and here I am! :stuck_out_tongue:

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