Profile picture
Michael Bolton
@michaelbolton
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
1) Why do people say that APIs are not a user interface? APIs are at least THREE user interfaces at once. One user is the application program that "uses" the interface (that's a metaphor); two others are developers who call that interface for application services or for testing.
2) I believe thinking of "the user" is terribly limiting both for development and testing. Many people, with different goals and purposes and temperaments and skills and experiences, use our products. Our designs and testing could reflect that, if we bothered to remember it.
3) Even for APIs, it helps to consider a variety of developer- and tester-users. Some will be experienced, practiced; others may be novices. Some have tacit knowledge; none are mind readers. Build APIs and test them anticipating different people, and trouble for some of them.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Michael Bolton
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @michaelbolton see all

Profile picture
Michael Bolton
@michaelbolton
1) "Test automation" as commonly discussed is not the automation of testing; it's the automation of *examples*.

An example is not a test.

Checking an example has some value, but to the degree it's a test at all, it's a pretty shallow test.
2) Checked examples can help to detect some kinds of problems, and thereby reduce some kinds of product risk. This is a fine thing. It is not the same as testing for deep, rare, hidden, subtle, emergent, parafunctional problems. It is not the same as learning about new risk.
3) Checking examples contributes to a disciplined approach to developing, building, and maintaining software. This too is a fine thing. Yet it is significantly limited in terms of the kinds of problems that it can reveal, problems that we discover via experience with the product.
Read 16 tweets
Profile picture
Michael Bolton
@michaelbolton
0) Gee, that was an okay thread. What happened to it? Well, the first sentence contained a totally dopey error AND I screwed up the tweet numbers. So...let's start over. (If ONLY there were a tester helping me to review this stuff and spot problems BEFORE I put it in production.)
1) Testers: managers ask for numbers and metrics when (A) they don't know how to talk about test coverage and evaluate it AND (B) when testers don't either. Since that's a logical AND there are a couple of things we testers can do to address that problem and thereby eliminate it.
2) The trouble is that coverage consists of a bunch of factors, most of which are not usefully quantifiable. But you CAN discuss them. When managers ask for numbers, try offering *descriptions*. Offer lists or outlines. Offer *evidence*. Offer assessments based on that evidence.
Read 18 tweets
Profile picture
Michael Bolton
@michaelbolton
1) Still confused about heuristics? A heuristic is a *fallible way of solving a problem*. Not all heuristics are shortcuts; many are. Not all heuristics are mnemonics, but mnemonics are heuristics; fallible ways of solving a problem (in the case, the problem of forgetting stuff).
2) Heuristics are applied, not followed. Heuristics are not rules. And yet rules turn out to be heuristic, too! They are fallible ways of solving problems—in this case, problems of people doing something undesirable, inappropriate, transgressive. Rules can fail to solve problems.
3) A heuristic typically aids in discovery; indeed, it comes from the same Greek roots as "Eureka!" "Heuristic" as an adjective includes the connotation "conducive to learning"; "helpful for discovery".
Read 21 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Nick Monroe
@nickmon1112
People are trying to understand the background of the New Zealand shooter, they came across him taking a recent trip to Pakistan
The Twitter account that made threats to the New Zealand prime minister is still not suspended. In fact, Twitter took it out of restricted mode so y'all can see. archive.is/WflSj
New Zealand mosque shooter visited Pakistan in 2018, confirms hotel owner samaa.tv/news/2019/03/n…
Read 159 tweets
Profile picture
vij
@vijinho
Since I was a kid I wanted to watch "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" by Steven Spielberg. Start the movie and first thing that comes up?

imdb.com/title/tt007586…

33 (x2 = 66)
#three #thirtythree #elevens #cabala #freemasonry #magic
Note the black on white/white on black for the numbers - inversion and opposites. 3 propellers.
When the little boy's record player starts playing. Lyrics begin "... of the shape of a square if you really want..." SQUARING THE CIRCLE
#freemasonry #magic #cabala #three #mysteryschools
Read 52 tweets
Profile picture
Ben Kuhn
@benskuhn
One way of learning good API design is to look at the decisions good APIs make. Another is to use a bad API and regret all their decisions. Today let’s try the second one on my favorite API tire fire, javax.crypto.
So you want to encrypt some data! OK, it looks like the Cipher class will do what we want. Let’s create one via Cipher.getInstance(“AES/CBC/PKCS5Padding”)! Except, oh shit, I have to catch two different exceptions:
NoSuchAlgorithmException and NoSuchPaddingException. Even though I hardcoded the algorithm and padding to a value that I know exists. WHAT IF AES STOPS EXISTING GUYS.
Read 24 tweets
Profile picture
Louisa 🌹🍞🌹
@LouisatheLast
People are always talking about the alt-right, neo-Nazis, KKK, etc like “ugh, these losers, no one takes them seriously, don’t call them Nazis when they’re nothing like REAL Nazis” and like...who do you people think the “real” Nazis were?
They were, for the most part, not the most popular kids on the block. Kind of hard to make friends when your ideas are all repugnant! Hitler himself was a failed art student, minor soldier who puffed up his own credentials, who was apparently homeless for a while
He was not his own definition of an Uber-mensch. His friends weren’t either. They were the dregs. And it took years for them to gain any actual power. But they did it by normalizing the horrible things they were saying
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
Adam Davidson
@adamdavidson
One of the great challenges of covering the Trump Org is that nobody--not one person--knew all the things Trump was doing and had agreed to.

Each deal, each business idea, was assigned to somebody who wouldn't tell others.

1.
The currency of Trump-world was proximity to the boss and the number of boss-assigned projects handled.

Trump was the only person who was aware of all the things he had assigned. But his memory was lousy and his attention to detail non existent.

2.
This was, perhaps, a smart way to run a business built on shady deals. It's how the mob has been run at times.

But it is terrifying for it to be the way the WH is run.

If Trump has no Chief of Staff, there is, essentially, no government. No administration.

3.
Read 11 tweets
Profile picture
|| $0uRc3 ||
@_sourceE
Welcome to duped by “Russian Active Measures.” Here is how a national publication helps Russia control the narrative.
Here is the source of this piece. Nice header and oh you used to work for Sputnik?
already did this thread back in May so I’ll just drop it here
Read 10 tweets

Trending hashtags

#TheResistance #RussianMafia #MeyerLansky #satanic #Artemenko #TrumpTower #Georgia #Ozark #BTSoutcastD5 #email #SouthCarolina #PhillipsNizer #Kislyak #TrumpVegas #Dishonored2 #CzechRepublic #thirteen #Dishonored #NewYork #elevens #templars #TrumpCasino #FSU #Chicago #Sochi
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!