The Malaysia Software Testing Board (MSTB) announced last week the launch of the inaugural Software Test Design Competition, a national-level competition that will test participants’ software testing skills and creativity.
With the theme Testing IT Right!, the competition urges participants to come up with an original test design based on the test object provided, in the form of specifications for a real software application.
“We aim to increase the visibility of software testing professional practices in Malaysia. Through the competition, we hope to provide industry recognition for excellence in testing skills among the professionals. In addition, we hope the competition will also promote interaction among participants and their colleagues, leading towards the creation of a Community of Practice among our software testing professionals,” says MSTB president Mastura Abu Samah.
“At the same time, it is also intended to spur the interest of university students to choose software testing as a career option.”
Modelled after a similar event held annually in Japan, the competition is divided into Open and University categories. The competition offers cash prizes of RM10,000 for the open category and RM5,000 for the university category. The two categories will be given test objects of different complexity for the competition.
The open category is for all Malaysian practicing software test professionals and entries can be submitted individually or in groups (up to five members). While the competition is primarily targeted for Malaysian citizens, groups of five may include one suitably qualified foreign national as a member.
The university category is limited to students undertaking courses relevant to SQA and software testing in Malaysian universities. Entries for this category must be in groups of five members or less, and includes a lecturer as the group’s supervisor.
Preliminary judging is expected to be held in July and the final round will be held on Sept 9.
The prize-giving ceremony will take place during the closing of SOFTEC 2014 on Sept 11.
Judging criteria will be based on elements including effectiveness, efficiency and creativity of solutions submitted.
The panel of judges will be headed by Dr Nishi Yasuharu, the Assistant Professor of the Department of Informatics at University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo.
In addition to increase awareness on Software Quality Assurance (SQA) practices, MSTB hopes that this competition will also highlight the important roles of software testers in the quest for software quality excellence.
MSTB will organise a special briefing for those interested to participate in the competition.
For details, go to www.qportal.com.my, or email softec.secretariat@mstb.org.
