Can the words that we use affect our train of thought?

How do the different words we use to describe a system, change the way that we think about that system? Can we describe the Application Under Test differently and change the way that we think about it?

One exercise I tried recently was to think of different words to describe the software that I was testing and to see how that affected my thinking about that software.

I found that I was able to take different views of the software when I applied a different description. And different views allowed me to quickly identify different aspects of the software to test.

This was different from a heuristic approach as I was inferring, from the description, aspects of the software which I could then use to trigger thoughts about testing. It seems to me that this is one way to identify heuristics from first principles.

Example words I used : Application, System, Software, Solution, [Name], [Name Version X]

• Try the words out for yourself and see what happens.
• Identify more descriptive words and phrases for the software and see what happens

A classic piece of humorous writing on the use of words and language can be found in 'Through the Looking Glass', by Lewis Carroll. I find chapter 6, with Humpty Dumpty, to be particularly entertaining. There are plenty of editions online and I've linked to just one, purely arbitrarily, at literature.org [1]

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`My name is Alice, but --'

`It's a stupid name enough!' Humpty Dumpty interrupted impatiently. `What does it mean?'

`Must a name mean something?' Alice asked doubtfully.

`Of course it must,' Humpty Dumpty said with a short laugh: `my name means the shape I am -- and a good handsome shape it is, too. With a name like yours, you might be any shape, almost.'

Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll, CHAPTER VI, HUMPTY DUMPTY [1]

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'I'm Testing ...'Below are notes on what some of the descriptive words that I use to describe systems do for me. They may do a very different thing for you. And I guess that is to be expected, words are ambiguous.When I say that I'm Testing [Insert Name of Software Here], that may not mean very much. It may not mean much to other people if they don't know the name, and it certainly doesn't expose the level of knowledge that I have about the system. What it can do for me is get me thinking in terms of the superficialities, of the first things that come to mind:

• the adverts,
• the basic feature set,
• what general kind of things need to be tested
• basic requirements

If I extensionalise the name and give it some extra meta-tag information (in this case the version number): I'm testing [Name of Software] version A.B. Then I start to think about:

• changes in this version,
• what needs to be tested specifically in this version?
• what the requirements were for this version?
• have all the necessary changes been made?
• Delivery dates and timescales.

When I call the Application a 'System' I start to think about

• an integration of parts,
• interfaces,
• data syntax,
• flow through the system

When I call the Application 'Software' I start to think of it as a thing:

• which runs on an operating system (what versions),
• interfaces with hardware (disk),
• data semantics
• common elements to software (instruction manual, box, help file,
  install routine).

When I call the Application a 'Solution', I think:

• for whom?
• for what problem?

And when I say 'Application' I'm thinking:

• apply it to what?
• Use it for what?
• How can I apply it?
• What functionality does it have?

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`But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected.

`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master -- that's all.'

Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. `They've a temper, some of them -- particularly verbs: they're the proudest -- adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs -- however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!'

Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll, CHAPTER VI, HUMPTY DUMPTY[1]

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No Answers, Just ExercisesAs an exercise for the reader... Now, what happens when you add some positive and negative phrases about the software to your descriptions?

• Festering pile of bad code: are you positively motivated to test it yet?
• Fantastic piece of software with just a few minor flaws: are you working hard to stress the software yet?

Answer the following questions and see what happens.

• Can the state that you approach the thinking about software change the way that you think about the testing of it? I think that it can.
• What words are you using to describe software?
• What states are you in when you use those words?
• How linked are the states and the words?

Enjoy.

References:

•  [1] Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll, CHAPTER VI, HUMPTY DUMPTY @literature.org, [http://www.literature.org/authors/carroll-lewis/through-the-looking-glass/chapter-06.html]
• [2] I summarised this blog post in a diagram called Descriptive Words and Software Testing