Jeffrey Murray Principle Test Manager – PowerPoint Problems with PowerPoint? … you can blame me!

Agenda A bit about me and Microsoft Engineering practices for making software Interview Tips Fun stories

Why do I love working for Microsoft?

Did you know?

Microsoft Silicon Valley Over 1800 employees, plus 400 vendors/contractors. Approx. 450 employees in San Francisco.

Giving back Microsoft wide giving ~ 1 Billion last year MSV donated over 3.5 million to charity last year! Microsoft pays charity $17 per hour for donated time by employee s Microsoft matches up to $12K per year from employee Microsoft Silicon Valley

Engineering practices that help ship software Vision and Spec Process “Feature Team” Shipping

Start with a vision What is on our list? What is the competition doing? What are our customers saying? Company direction And don’t forget to have fun! Video here (not including)

Now go write a spec Justification User Scenario Goals and non goals Design specifics Details, details, details Pictures Algorithms API definitions Workflows Security Privacy World readiness Performance Responsiveness Accessibility Supportability compatibility

Lifecycle of a feature spec Begins its life as an idea Turns into a 1 page spec Approved by management to be flushed out Dev/Test/PM resources assigned, increases to pages Management approved for coding Spec grows to pages Feature crew takes over and completes it on time Feature crew review and check-in 200 ideas100 approved 60 approved 50 completed

It begins with great people in 3 specific roles Program Manager: Design new features based on customer feedback, Office strategy, and priorities Software Design Engineer: Code the features to specifications, creatively solving design issues and fixing bugs Software Design Engineer in Test: Validate the code, improve the user experience, and deliver a quality product to customers

Rules for a “Feature Team” Work in a “Branch” until quality is non-disruptive and feature works Must balance features, resource and time carefully to meet deadlines Must meet quality gates Automation before check-in, testing areas covered etc. Escalate issues Management will approve features via Answer 8 questions

8 questions 1.Is the coding for the feature complete and testable? 2.Has the specification been reviewed marked “ready for coding”? Are the dev design doc and test plans reviewed and complete ? 3.Has the testing been completed and functionality verified? 4.Has automation been completed at BVT/CVT? 5.Have all known active bugs been reviewed and triaged? 6.Has the major category test items been tested (performance, accessibility, security, World Readiness)? 7.What remaining work is left to do on the feature crew? 8.Has the demo to the Management Team been completed?

How do we get to done?

Typical 28 to 32 month schedule Pla n Cod e Test Bet a RT M Planning Phase 4-6 months Create lists and 1 page specs Development and test estimate and risk assessment Adds/cuts 4 Months Features ready to go Fix last remaining important bugs 4 Months Beta 1 about 10,000 users Beta 2 about 1,000,000 users 12 months Planned testing phase, validation, user scenarios, international, stress, security, configuration, accessibility, compatibility etc. 8 months: Feature team work broken up into 3 milestones

Metrics and Quality Bug severity, incoming rate, regression rate Writing code – bug count goes up Integration – bug count goes down Automation, Code coverage, security reviews, “uptime” and Dr. Watson! Beta feedback, internal deployment, IT signoff Key partner signoff “TAP” program Test signoff and checklists

CodeStabilizeCodeStabilize Beta 2 Beta 1 RTM Number of Active bugs

Watson We don’t have user steps or data We know what line of code caused the crash and can often guard against it

Core values for Microsoft Microsoft Drive for Results Honesty and Integrity Big Challenges Passion

Career and Interview Tips  Companies can quickly determine if you are wasting their time, don’t waste yours!  Companies want bright and energetic people who are eager to learn. We can always teach you what you need  Interview the company beyond the job, a good part of your life will be there  You are a professional, act like it  When you screw up (and you will) what you do next is critical  Ask yourself each week, what do I like about my job?  Realize that although we (companies) may seem arrogant, we need YOU to survive

Stories  How I got my Job at Microsoft  Copy protection  Steve’s laptop  OneNote  Back stage with Steve B  Office pranks  Hockey rink  Elevator  Beach  Peanuts  Disco  balloons

Thank you