The Social Tester
Ten years of The Social Tester blog. In a book.
Ten years of writing for people who test software — the craft, the career, and the wonderful skills that don't always show up on a CV. 103 short essays, free to read and free to keep.
The Software Testing Origin Story
The Social Tester blog ran for the best part of a decade and more than 500 articles. This book gathers the best of them – the pieces testers kept coming back to most – into 103 short chapters you can read one at a time, or lose an afternoon to.
It isn't a manual and it isn't a certification syllabus. It's a decade of thinking out loud about the working life of a tester.
For people who test software
Not a manual. A decade of thinking out loud.
The craft of testing
Exploratory testing, note-taking, mind mapping and what it means to be more than "good at finding bugs".
A career, not a job
How to stay relevant, become less interchangeable, and build a career in testing you actually want.
Testing in a team
Where testing sits in agile teams, working with product and dev, and why quality is never the tester's job alone.
The subtle skills
Listening, writing, noticing and judgement — the underlying skills that often elevate great testers.
By the numbers
Ten years, gathered in one place.
A page from the index
Twelve chapters, to give you the flavour.
Every chapter stands on its own — dip in wherever a title catches your eye.
…and 91 more chapters inside the book.
About the author: Rob Lambert
I wrote The Social Tester for the best part of a decade – more than 500 articles on software testing, teams, and the working life of a tester. Written between about 2007 and 2017.
Over my career I moved from testing in a waterfall process to leading agile teams – as a Test Manager and then an Engineering Manager. That arc runs right through these essays. After this I moved sideways to Vice President of HR, then onwards to Vice President of Software Engineering, followed by a fruitful career as a consultant, speaker and trainer. My current focus is now Cultivated.
This book is the closing of the door on the blog – and an open invitation to everyone still testing software for a living.
Before you download
Is the book really free?
Yes – it's a free PDF download, with no email sign-up or payment. Grab it, read it, share it with a colleague who tests.
What format is it, and how long?
A PDF ebook of around 71,000 words across 103 short chapters. Most take just a few minutes, so it works cover-to-cover or a chapter at a time on a commute.
Who is it for?
Software testers at any stage – from people new to testing to seasoned test engineers thinking about their craft and career. It's also useful for anyone who hires, manages, or builds testing teams.
Do I need to read it in order?
Not at all. It's a collection of stand-alone essays, so you can start anywhere and jump around by whatever topic interests you.
A decade of writing, gathered in one place and free to keep. If it helps you see your own testing a little differently, it's done its job.
Testing isn't a phase you run at the end. It's a way of paying attention. And those skills are in high demand.
The Cultivated Free Library · №11
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Ten years of writing on testing software, free to keep. No sign-up, no catch.
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