25 Years in Information Technology

Time flies when you are having fun!

It’s been 25 years since I managed to turn my hobby into a career, and while I continue to learn something new every day, there have been numerous lessons learnt over the years that continue to stand the test of time.

So in the spirit of Open Source, and to achieve a higher karma rating, I’m going to share a few of those lessons (maybe 25?) in the unsocial format of blog posts.

It’s also a good reason for me to update the copyright on the blog…

So where should I start?

Lesson 1: Testing

I’m going to start with something that I confess I still don’t do enough of to this day, something that I recommend everyone do, no matter what role you undertake - Testing.

Now, I’m not referring to one specific type of testing, like Gray Box Testing or Mutation Testing. I’m talking about a holistic approach, more akin to the meme - Test all the things!

I’m suggesting that you:

• Test your code - Validate your inputs, your outputs and your logic.
• Test your processes - Validate your alerts, your backups and your ability to recover.
• Test your suppliers - Validate their claims, their roadmap and their SLA’s.
• Test your assumptions - We all know that when you ASSUME you make an ASS out of U and ME.
• Test everything!

Well as much as you can, there’s not enough time in the day to test everything but the more you test, the more it will become instinctive. You’ll find that testing will make the unknown, known, which in turn will lead to better accuracy, reliability, and confidence in your work.

By now you are probably thinking this all sounds like common sense, and you are right, it is. But if there’s one thing I have learnt over the years (the hard way), it’s that you can never do too much testing. Just please don’t test my patience….☺