Author: Uri Blass
Date: 01:39:45 09/06/00
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On September 06, 2000 at 01:03:29, Adrien Regimbald wrote: >Hello, > >I saw the huge thread on beta-testing, and while I didn't read the whole thing >(it quickly turned into petty insult matches), I feel I should point out some >misconceptions. > >1. A beta tester is not a "real tester". A beta tester simply tries the major >features of the program and suggests improvements, reports bugs, etc. A "real >tester" is actually part of the development team, and in fact, sometimes this >phase of devlopment in a serious software project can occupy more time than >actually coding the whole thing. These testers systematically try to break the >program - doing things that no-one would normally do, verifying outputs for test >inputs using various techniques - black/white box testing, morph testing, >recursion testing, etc, etc. I admit that I do not understand the meaning of these techniques. > These testers are advanced coders themselves, and >are highly paid for their work. > >2. Beta testers usually do not contribute significantly to the program - they >point out small bugs, make suggestions, etc - mostly cosmetic issues and >smoothing out unexpected problems with the GUI or perhaps a major functionality. I admit that I am not a real tester by your definition. > Suggesting that a beta tester be paid anything for the 20 or 30 hours they >spend "tinkering" (read - playing) with a program when perhaps a whole team of >highly trained professionals for most likely a period of years over long and >grueling hours is absurd in the extreme. I think that there are cases that it is more than 20-30 hours. Beta testers may have some understanding about the structure of chess programs. Examples: Beta testers can suggest ideas to improve the evaluation function of a program based on watching many games(for example by suggesting changes to the piece square table). They may suggest ideas which kind of extensions to add to the program. They may suggest ideas for a better time allocation(I found that the time allocation of most programs do not follow the simple rule use more time when the time control is slower and most programs use more time for the first move in 2 hours/game and not in 2 hours/60 moves). Uri
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