“Testers [do|don’t] (help) [prevent|detect] problems.”

Throughout my career, I’ve encountered numerous variations of this phrase and discussed the underlying ideas often. The phrase uses just a few, small words to express many, big ideas. And so, it is valuable and critical to understand what each word means individually in order to better understand the ideas they convey collectively.

Semantics is the study of meaning in words. The session begins with a brief and broad overview of semantics and related ideas. This sets the stage for deep analysis of each individual word in the phrase above and its potential meaning. We collaboratively consider:

Testers – What might this word mean to different people and in different contexts?
Do/Don’t – What do normative and descriptive statements have to do with it?
Help – How does the inclusion/exclusion of this word affect the meaning of the phrase?
Prevent/Detect – What does causality and relativism have to do with which word we choose?
Problems – What exactly is the thing that is being prevented or detected?

This session demystifies and promotes semantics, and goes beyond wordplay to introduce critical concepts that have practical impacts on testers, their roles, and their responsibilities.

Tech and tools are cool, but without the ability to express ideas effectively, it is all moot. This talk helps attendees communicate more clearly.