Guest:
Paul Merrill
@dpaulmerrill
Paul Merrill talks with Dave Rael about testing and automation, podcasting, business, and communication
Paul Merrill is principal software engineer in test and founder of Beaufort Fairmont Automated Testing Services. Paul works with clients every day to accelerate their automated testing and sync up testing with development in agile environments. An entrepreneur, tester, speaker, and software engineer, Paul has a unique perspective on launching and maintaining quality products. He co-hosts Reflection as a Service, a podcast about software development and entrepreneurship. Follow Paul on Twitter @dpaulmerrill
Chapters:
2:15 - Dave introduces the show and Paul Merrill5:53 - Paul's motivations for specializing in automated testing10:04 - The types of testing Paul and Beaufort Fairmont do14:24 - Engaging with the domain16:07 - Podcasting and the Reflection As a Service Podcast18:47 - The things that "light Paul up"20:15 - Paul's entrepreneurial nature and the realities of being in business24:15 - Paul's story of failure - overengineering soluttions - premature abstraction27:36 - Another story of failure from Paul - trying to make a business that didn't work without understanding the market (or lack thereof)30:21 - Paul's success story - family, mentoring and sharing lessons, business, and podcasting32:31 - The importance of effective communication and the deficiency of it in software34:56 - Mutual benefit in teaching and learning interactions38:00 - How Paul stays current with what he needs to know39:50 - Paul's book recommendations41:44 - The things that have Paul most excited45:00 - The difficulty of vocabulary and using different terms in different ways45:39 - Paul's causes of pain and suffering47:56 - Paul's top 3 tips for delivering more value49:10 - Keeping up with Paul
Resources:
Paul's Business: Beaufort Fairmont
The Beaufort Fairmont Blog
Beaufort Fairmont Webinars
Reflection As a Service Podcast
Lisa Crispin on Developer On Fire
Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, 2nd Edition (The XP Series) - Kent Beck
Robot Class in Java
Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum - Mike Cohn
James Jeffers
Jonathan Stark
Scott Hanselman on Developer On Fire
Scott Hanselman's Blog Post on "Dark Matter Developers"
Joe Colantonio on Developer On Fire
Uncle Bob Martin on Developer On Fire
Ward Cunningham on Developer On Fire
Michael Feathers on Developer On Fire
No Silver Bullet - Frederick Brooks
Udi Dahan On Best Practices
Udi Dahan on Developer On Fire
Paul's book recommendation:
Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code - Martin Fowler
Test Driven Development: By Example - Kent Beck
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software - Erich Gamma
Working Effectively with Legacy Code - Michael Feathers
Paul's top 3 tips for delivering more value:
Learn about the business you're in
Listen to your customer
Learn to communicate better
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