Gamifying software testing (keynote)

Abstract

Writing good software tests is difficult and not every developer's favourite occupation. If an activity is so difficult, boring, or otherwise unattractive that people do not want to engage with it, then gamification offers a solution: By turning the activity into a fun and competitive task, participants engage, compete, and excel. In this talk, I will explore how this idea can be integrated into software testing tools (e.g. IDEs), processes (e.g. continuous integration), and education. Our experiences with gamified testing illustrate the potential of using gamification to address some of the many problems that we are facing today in software testing. There are, however, many challenges ahead, and I will outline some of the challenges and research opportunities related to gamifying software testing.