How We Test Software at Microsoft®

Chapter 3. Engineering Life Cycles

Alan Page

I love to cook. Something about the entire process of creating a meal, coordinating multiple dishes, and ensuring that they all are complete at the exact same time is fun for me. My approach, learned from my highly cooking-talented mother, includes making up a lot of it as I go along. In short, I like to “wing it.” I’ve cooked enough that I’m comfortable browsing through the cupboard to see which ingredients seem appropriate. I use recipes as a guideline—as something to give me the general idea of what kinds of ingredients to use, how long to cook things, or to give me new inspiration. There is a ton of flexibility in my approach, but there is also some amount of risk. I might make a poor choice in substitution ...