Log Writing, Helps!

It was initial months of my career on taking the Software Testing as my profession by choice.  I remember I was into 2nd week of this job. In first two days, I was said to read the book of William E Perry, by identifying few chapters by a Project Manager.  On reading, I was supposed to update what I have understood and have to answer the questions he asks.  He came to my desk at 3.45 PM sharp every day with a mug and coffee in it.  He was strict but he helped me a lot to practice. I believe he is the one who gave me hike of 3000 INR and it was my first hike and my salary came to 9000 INR. To add up on this, my parents had said me, 'There will be seniors and big people in office; don't talk too much or ask back questions. Respect them and make sure you take good name."

I and other tester by name Kanthraja MP worked together in lab. There was a consultant from other company and his contract was about to end. I was said to take task of automation. The next day when I came, I learned, his last day was yesterday. A lab with server slots, huge hardware systems, distributed computing systems, Windows, Linux and OS/2 machines integrated with centralized hardware.  Automation has to start tonight and it continues for whole night.  

I was looking at that tool used for automation. The company had brought it for license. Those were the QTP (initial version), WinRunner and LoadRunner days. This tool was something which I had not heard at all when I asked my friends.

The automation also runs in US lab and it will be controlled from India's lab.  I just ran the script once on one client machine and it failed. I went to Test Lead and said, I will write the program again and will use that for the over day automation run. I requested for one day time and said will resume the automation from tomorrow. I wrote the program and in evening I configured the systems with it. But, the programming team was debugging for Out Of Memory and I could not get machine to run the program. I asked my friend Kanthraja MP to run the script and wait for 30 minutes. If he sees any trouble with the automation in lab, I asked him to call me. I had to collect a BMTC bus pass in Shivajinagara bus stand, I rushed that evening.

I got a call from him saying the program fails to run. I searched for internet browsing center and asked him to mail the error log it to company email-id. Looking at logs, I learned, it was difficult for me to know what's happening. I called him again and said, I'm coming back to office. He was waiting for me and I see a tense face.

It was difficult to know what's going wrong and what's happening. I wanted to know but I did not know how to learn it nor investigate it. Then, I got an idea to print each variable value, state value and the flow where it is.  Recompiled and started the automation again. Got to know the problems and it was fixed in an hour.  Initiated the automation run on both lab and we monitored for an hour. It was going smooth and we left for day.This helped us to figure out Messaging problems implemented via CORBA, memory problems and elements which were causing them, and many other problems. 

The printing of details in the log helped us lot.

I remember it today as well. For all the buggy program I write today, still I use the verbose prints to maximum extent possible in context. It helps me to investigate and learn systems. More over it helps me to learn my buggy program, better, each time.

To remember is, even the log consumes the space on system. If it is consuming much, then tuning the log writing is necessary.  Format and preface content which helps better for context, prefixing it for each line becomes handy to differentiate. With this, I see, the testability and also the learnability of the log will be simpler.

Fragmentations: Heuristic and COP FLUNG GUN -- Part 3

Back in this post, I have listed very few perspectives of 'Communication' factor. But it is beyond what I see or what I have seen in view of programming and testing. There is a point which is usually not considered in this Communication factor. It is device fragmentation.  It is a buzz word and it lies there most times as it is not attempted in Software Testing to understand what actually it is and what is the outcome of it. Is is just the device fragmentation the problem source?

Interestingly the behaviors noticed on a device will not be because of fragmentation in first place. But the buzz words makes it to feel it is because of device fragmentation. Going back a bit, is device fragmented or the OS is fragmented? I see both and every other factors of COP FLUNG GUN will have the influence of fragmentation and anything that comes in near future will undergo the influence of fragmentation. It indicates, this will never come down unless the user needs from technology come down. Wait, what is fragmentation and defragmentation? It is very much essential to understand because the understanding of COP FLUNG GUN factor gets better each time if this is understood each time.

In an Operating System, everything is file which in turn will be instructions and data. If this is a file system, then processing of data which will be represented as a file and will be broken into block of files. This fragmented files might be sequentially placed or may not. If not sequential then problem starts -- where disk read, disk write and wait time, all increases in Operating Context.  To improve the condition here in Operating Context due to fragmentation we initiate activity called Disk Defragmentation. Defragementation is a process of grouping the same logical content file so that they are connected in close groups and as a result the file operations by an Operating System becomes easiest and space on disk/memory and processor can be used better for other needs. If observed, the Disk Defragmentation in Operating System actually helps to overcome the impact of fragmentation in Operating Context environment. Then why cant we defragment on the mobile device?

It is like this, I tear the novel and throw its paper pieces across the streets of a city, randomly. Say, I can recognize these piece of papers on the city roads. This is fragmentation in a perspective. Now how will I defragment it by collecting and place sequentially and keep it connected logically and content wise? There are lot other factors in the city's environment -- sun, dust, heat, rain, wind, cleanliness of city etc which will disturb me to collect them together and make a novel again and not just the street which I use to commute.  The same happens in the mobile device its mobile operating system. 

The mobile device's hardware is different from each other where the same app has to run on it. Likewise the Operating System gets customized for each of this device. To relate, the novel cover which was torn into different shapes is the mobile device and the pages of torn novel are customized mobile OS.  I have to make points on each of this torn devices and OS. How? As these torn pieces miss my context and in the influence of environmental and operating context factors, it is more likely that  my points might fail or show more problems now which I cannot guess nor anticipate easily.

Few Fragmentation Factors in Mobile Device and OS

1. Hardware Specifications -- Input; Processing and Storage; Output; Collaborating Unit and Capability
2. Software Specifications -- Customized OS and its versions; Other software & its versions; Software updates - device software; component software; Anything that is bound to be updated or receive the updates
3. User's Context -- Usage pattern; Environmental factors; User's choice and Locale Settings; Rooting and Jail Breaking
4. Environmental Factors -- Infrastructure; Service Provider; Network
5. Regulations -- Policies of devices; Polices of user location; Polices of software
6. Application installed -- It's internal way of functioning on above identified factors
7. Other unidentified factors -- which always exists as unknown until identified

Ecosystem Fragmentation Not just Device Fragmentation

Now it is obvious that fragmentation is not just the device. Not just the device fragmentation is all. It is also including the user who uses the device and app as well along with unidentified factors. How to defragment these fragmentations? This is the challenge to the mobile technology which keeps changing consistently with the next version of app or mobile software or hardware as it gets updated or rolled out. As a result, does it get outdated quickly leaving the little to applications installed and to the previous model (and versions) of hardware and software? Fragmented!


Fragmentation and COP FLUNG GUN

While I learn fragmentation is everywhere here, I see it is also observed in this heuristic -- COP FLUNG GUN.  Identifying it in first hand is not possible as it is highly contextual while few identity remains generic in most cases.

Further in this blog post series I will learn and mention few generic and as well the context specific fragmentation factors in this heuristic. Interesting will be how the fragmenation of  Communication is while it is not mentioned in previous post. Did I tell myself about the fragmentation of files on mobile OS and devices while I was saying how it is from external factors? That has a role too in contribution to the external factors.

Now, let me allow myself to defragment what I have got here.  It is fragmented and goes unrecognized!



Note: I keep the technical stuffs in simple relativity and examples so I can learn it anytime and share it to others who wishes to know about it. Being technical and non-technical is expressing in simple and to anyone is what I understand for now.