The tech industry won’t let Dot Graham retire any time soon. The software test consultant, speaker and author spoke at this year’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Houston, Texas, on the role of testing in software development.

“It’s critically important that testing is done along with development,” Graham told Jeff Frick, cohost of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team. “We need testing skills just as much as ever no matter how you’re developing things.”

Graham said that many technologists struggle with testing at the system level. She mapped out five testing tips as follows:

1. “You might expect automated tests to find lots of bugs. They don’t.”
2. “Automated testing doesn’t come out of a box (or a download). You get an engine, but not a whole car.” You have to build around that engine.
3. You shouldn’t automate all of your tests. Some tests should stay manual, including tests that take too long to automate. If it provides value, it should be automated.
4. “Proving return on investment for automation can be dangerous.” There’s more to measure than simply amount of time spent.
5. “It’s not necessarily that the testing tools are tools for testers.” Testing skills are different than automator skills. Not all testers have those skills. “It’s unfair that testers with a good understanding of the business are told they’re not worth anything because they don’t know code.” Not all testers have to be developers.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Grace Hopper Celebration of Woman In Computing. And join in on the conversation by CrowdChatting with theCUBE hosts.

Photo by SiliconANGLE