July 31st, 2014 by Adam Sandman
software tools quality assurance
Let’s assume you already have a good defect tracking system, A test management system, release management, automation, etc... The whole DevOps suite. What are you missing?
I am going to talk about a few of the unsung heroes of the QA world. These are the little applications that make all of our lives so much easier.
- Powershell - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40855 - Kind of like DOS, but with more privilege. You can even control remote machines
- Windows Sysinternals - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb842062 - lots of options, download the whole kit and try it out. if you are automating, these are some of the helpers that will get you to where you need to be.
- Bug Shooting - http://www.bugshooting.com/ - Simple screen shots, saved sequentially (say that 3 times fast). Easy to use and non-intrusive.
- Paint.net - http://www.getpaint.net/ - Great, free, image editor.
- DOS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DOS_commands - The granddaddy of them all. If you don’t know DOS, you should really read the wiki, it can save you hours.
- Notepad++ - http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ - Great, configurable text editor, has many add-ons to do coding, text, and so much more.
- Dia - http://dia-installer.de/ - Open source flow charting and diagraming tool. Great when you need to lay out the network or process for clarity.
- VirtualBox - https://www.virtualbox.org/ - need a virgin environment, VirtualBox is your answer, runs Mac, Windows, Linux, etc... Plus many pre made appliance images available.
- Portable apps - http://portableapps.com/ - when you are new to a machine, this is the best way to carry your tools with you. Doesn’t do everything, but there is little it can’t do.
- Putty - http://www.putty.org/ - Simple, easy, light, and command line aware. The perfect SSH/FTP client
- CamStudio - http://camstudio.org/ - When a screen shot won’t do, this is a free and light screen recorder.
- WinMerge - http://winmerge.org/ - Comparing files, let this tool do the heavy lifting, works from command line as well.
- TeamViewer - http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx - need to collaborate and take control of another machine? Here is your new favorite choice
- DiffPDF - http://www.qtrac.eu/diffpdf.html - Where most compare tools fail is on PDF's. Here is your answer
- Google+ Hangouts - https://plus.google.com/hangouts - general collaboration and screen sharing, plenty of add-ons for whiteboard sessions, and free
Don’t be afraid to add to your toolbox, or ours. Let us know your favorite tools.