Agile Artisans

Running Selenium on an Alternate Port; Starting the Server from Ant

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I found myself needing to run Selenium tests from Java against a Selenium server running on a port other than the default 4444. Every example on the web showed me almost the right way to configure this from within JUnit... so now that I've got it working, I'm documenting it. :)

public void setUp() throws Exception {
    // this is the normal way
    // setUp(server_url, "*chrome");

    // this is the alternate port way
    selenium = new DefaultSelenium("localhost", 11111, "*firefox", server_url );
    selenium.start();
}

Hopefully this will save a few others some time!

Free Bonus Tip

Here's how to start and stop the Selenium server from an Ant script.

    <target name="start_server" description="Starts a Selenium Server in the background">
        <java jar="${lib}/selenium-server.jar" fork="true" spawn="true"/>
    </target>
	
    <target name="stop_server" description="Stops your local Selenium Server">
        <

My New Gig

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000
I've been meaning to write about my new job for a while, but life has been busy. I'm not working with NFJS One, but instead working for a software shop here in North Carolina called Logos Technologies. For a variety of reasons, this year really burned me out, and travel was a huge part of that, so I did some shopping around. I talked to some shops about jobs with some travel, but local was where I wanted to be, and it's where I am.
I know many people who are adamant about being independent and not working at a day job, but if you know me well, you know I'm pretty flexible... after writing Ship It! and hitting the conference circuit pretty hard, I'm ready to step back, sleep in my own bed at night, and spend the evening watching TV with my two daughters. My commute is 15 to 20 minutes when traffic is bad, and under 10 if I catch all the lights just right. You can keep your hotel food and frequent flier miles. I'll

Beginners Need Steps!

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A topic that came up repeatedly this week at Agile Development Practices was whether we should teach people steps or principles. Most, if not all, of the thought leaders and industry experts don't want to provide steps. We've all seen people take steps and follow them religiously. Leaders don't want to see steps abused. They've seen beginners take the steps and use them... but because they never learn the principles, they don't know why a given step is important.
Lee Copeland mentioned the "if-then" process principle. "If" this happens, "then" do that. All too frequently beginners see the "then" step but never learn the "if". The results, which are often disasterous, are that the prescriptive steps are followed when they don't apply and aren't needed. The "if" gets lost.
So of course, to avoid this, many people refuse to provide steps. They fight against peopl

Agile Development Practices 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000
I updated my conference slides after the submission deadline, but I still wanted to share them with everyone. So here's a link.
ADP Orlando 2009 slides link

Feed the Seed, with Some Help From Seinfeld!

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000
After my last blog posting I received email from an old friend who works at SAS and speaks on the NFJS tour. The email had a great tip that I wanted to pass on to you.
Here's a direct link to the Seinfeld Productivity Tip on LifeHacker.
Jared:
That was a very well written and well timed post.
The first few paragraphs talks to all of us -- ok, most of us; and it is very true. I like the motivational ideas that you suggested. The challenge I face, however -- and I doubt that I am alone -- is to keep at it. A technique to help with that that you may have heard is the Seinfeld calendar. It is was created by Jerry Seinfeld as a productivity aid. The concept is very simple
You print out a calendar month starting with today.
Set a goal of something

Feed the Seed

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I've been seeing, in my own life and others, a powerful principal at work. It is extremely powerful, very well-known, and often forgotten. So in this blog post, I'm not trying to educate, but to remind.
"Use it or lose it" is a common saying. Whatever skills you value, from speaking a foreign language to creating art, you must exercise those skills to keep them in top shape. We know instinctively that if we stop lifting weights we lose some of our muscle's size quickly.
Unfortunately that's where most of us stop the thought process. If we don't exercise, we're not at our peak. We're still good though.. just not perfect. Right? Wrong.
We forget that an unused muscle begins to atrophy immediately and continues to wither. You know this if you've ever had your leg or arm in a cast. When the cast was finally removed, you were shocked at the size of your injured limb. The forced inaction had cost you more muscle than you realized was possible. But where does it end? How much damage do we pay f

What Are You Passionate About?

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000
Yesterday I was asked what software practices I was passionate about. It's not a question I've tried to answer in a while and I think it was worthwhile to consider the topic for a moment. What do I (or you!) care about?

Continuous Integration- If you've heard me speak or read this blog, you've probably heard me mention CI. It's the best way I know to provide developers with feedback quickly, and a tighter feedback loop is the best way I know to learn. Hudson has tons of mindshare these days, but Cruise Control is still my favorite. At the end of the day, use something! CI is a great gateway practice that can lead to full-scale agile adoption down the road.

Test Automation- This is another way to tighten the feedback loop. If you cover your code with an automated test, and it's run in your continuous integration system, any breaks or problems are caught very, very quickly. Also, please note th

Agile RX and Ruby RX Early Bird Discount Ends on Friday

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000
These conferences give you face time with an incredible cast of industry veterans, from Andy Hunt to Dave Hussman to Johanna Rothman and many more. The invited speakers are here because they have proven track records. We know they walk the walk, and talk the talk. Don't take a chance on wasting your conference dollars (and time!) listening to unprepared and unqualified presenters. Make a solid investment in yourself and your team instead.
In this tight economy, don't make the same mistakes others have made... learn from world class experts and make sure your team knows the best way to use the next wave of technology. Don't reinvent the wheel on your team... find out the best way to move your project forward. Topics from automation to team process and more will help you in the weeks and months ahead.
The Agile RX and Ruby RX combo conference is coming to Reston, but the early bird discounts expire this Friday! So far conference sign up has been weaker than hoped, so if you're thinking about coming,

Agilepalooza in Charlotte

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000
There's a one-day, open space conference in Charlotte this week that's worth visiting. Confirmed speakers include Dave Hussman, Jeff Sutherland, Mike Cottmeyer, and Joe Little. I'll be dropping in myself, but not until lunch time. (I'm speaking at the Boston JUG the night before on Career 2.0!).
Agilepalooza
Come out! It should be a fun way to learn from a number of speakers, and others in your area. If you've never attended an open space event, it's less constrained than a normal conference. They're usually very interesting.
I hope to see you there.

Agile RX and Agile RX are coming to Reston!

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000
If you haven't signed up for the upcoming Agile RX and Ruby RX combo conference, check it out. We've got a stellar speaker lineup for you with topics from the basic to advanced level. We've got introductions to Ruby, Rails, and various Agile topics, to experienced veterans like Andy Hunt, Chad Fowler, Dave Hussman, and more.
You can find out more about the conference at the NFJS One website.