# Work Blog

A collection of articles on software testing, test engineering, and Agile methodology by Gregory Gauthier.

## Published Articles

| Article | Topic |
|---------|-------|
| [Testers As Explorers](articles/published/Testers-As-Explorers.md) | Exploratory testing as chartered expedition, not aimless wandering |
| [Agile, Or Whatever You Call It](articles/published/Agile-Or-Whatever-You-Call-It.md) | The case for Agile practices beyond the buzzword |
| [The Various Uses Of Vegetable Condiments In Testing](articles/published/The-Various-Uses-Of-Vegetable-Condiments-In-Testing.md) | BDD, Gherkin, and the proper use of Cucumber |
| [Five Essential Lessons](articles/published/five-essential-lessons.md) | Key takeaways from *Lessons Learned In Software Testing* |
| [The Categories Of Testing](articles/published/the-categories-of-testing.md) | Categorising tests by the kinds of facts they discover |
| [The Perturbation Theory Of Exploratory Testing](articles/published/the-perturbation-theory-of-exploratory-testing.md) | Applying perturbation theory concepts to exploratory testing |
| [What Is A Competent Tester?](articles/published/what-is-a-competent-tester.md) | Joel Spolsky on the distinction between testers and failed programmers |
| [The Logic Of Software Testing](articles/published/the-logic-of-software-testing.md) | Formal reasoning methods testers use: modus ponens, modus tollens, induction, and abduction |
| [Perfection And Testing](articles/published/perfection-and-testing.md) | Why testing is about managing risk and confidence, not chasing perfection |
| [Resources For Testers](articles/published/resources-for-testers.md) | Recommended books, blogs, and learning resources for software testers |
| [What Makes Us Better](articles/published/what-makes-us-better.md) | Whether AI tools like Claude change the *kind* of craft, not just the speed |

## Drafts

- [The Uses and Abuses of Test Automation](articles/drafts/uses-and-abuses.md)
- [Agile Stories](articles/drafts/agile-stories.md)

## Structure

```
articles/
  published/   # Completed articles
  drafts/      # Work in progress
assets/
  clipart/     # Illustrative clipart
  general/     # Screenshots and diagrams
  memes/       # Memes referenced in articles
scripts/
  new-article          # Creates new article from title and opens in vim
  article-template.md  # Template used by the script
```

## Creating New Articles

You can quickly create a new article with proper front-matter using the helper script:

```bash
scripts/new-article "The Telos of Test Automation"
```

This will:
- Generate a clean slug from the title
- Create the file in `articles/drafts/`
- Populate it with the current front-matter standard and template structure
- Open the file in `vim` (falls back to `vi`)

See `scripts/article-template.md` and `GROK.md` for the current conventions.
