Established Monthly Column Seeks New Home

The first column at the new home is scheduled to be available in under a months. Stay tuned for a full announcement.

(Is the suspense killing you? Or do I need to work a little more on my dramatic skills?) ::smirk::

--
Scott Barber
Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus
Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
sbarber@perftestplus.com

I wouldn't give up on the mag or the trend... at least not just yet. These aren't the only folks who are picking up on the "performance is important and deserves to be talked about more" trend.

Oh, and don't worry, I'll find another place for the column. I enjoyed writing it too much. Articles are great, but not many folks want to publish (or read) 4000 words about the socio-political topics that we performance testers face on an almost daily basis. Besides that, full-length articles are, in my opinion, where you demonstrate how to accomplish a specific task. Columns are where you show someone a new way to look at a problem.

That is my favorite part. I love to solve problems, sure - I think that's a given for a performance tester, but I know that every problem has a different context and at least a slightly different solution. I also know that there are a *whole bunch* of smart performance testers out there (Alex & Ainars included) who have come up with solutions that are *at least* as worthy of print as mine are. However, growing up the son of a teacher and then spending the last several years working closely with Cem Kaner, Rob Sabourin, Jim & Jon Bach, I've become absolutely fascinated with helping folks learn how to think about a problem... how to frame it in a way that is solvable. I get the most professional joy out of watching the "cartoon light bulb" come on for someone as the "impossible problem" becomes an enjoyable and manageable challenge.

Anyway, I'll keep ya'll posted.

Thanks again, not only to those who posted comments here, but to all of you who sent me private notes as well! Nothing gives an author energy to keep writing more than "fan e-mail". ;)


--
Scott Barber
Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus
Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
sbarber@perftestplus.com

Indeed, your columns was reason for me to download issues and sometimes find something more worth reading which will be no more case next year. Maybe it is not so bad as I will have more time for other things like my family ...

I am very upset to hear that. First, I simply enjoy reading your columns. It was the best part of the magazine (and often the only one about performance).

Second, it probably means that the word "performance" in the name of the magazine won't have much meaning. And it is a pity. I don't know any other magazine covering performance (not counting CMG Journal which is a different animal, no columns there). I saw a good sign in establishing of Software Test and Performance Magazine and the conference with the same name, but looks like I again overestimated the trend.