Software Testing, Development and Music

I read with intense interest the “From the Editor” post entitled “Software testing lessons from music” on SearchSoftwareQuality.com this week.  The article caught my eye for its title uniqueness, but kept my attention as I read the theme of the Association for Software Testing’s annual conference - “Beyond the Boundaries: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Software Testing.”

Interdisciplinary approaches to software testing just seemd to be ”beyond the boundaries” for my brain to comprehend until reading the article.  A comment on the post was also particularly meaningful to me - stating a view that I have often been criticized for voicing myself.  “Testing, like designing and programming, is as much an art form as engineering.” The comment goes on to compare testers to choreographers and users to the dancers.  I personally love that concept!  It portrays a vision of software development which I have long had, and work daily to achieve - that is creating the perfect symphony that users can play beautifully.