However, testers don??™t exhaustively test the software for bugs. Rather than relying on testers to find
bugs for programmers to fix, the team should produce nearly bug-free code on their own. When testers
find bugs, they help the rest of the team figure out what went wrong so that the team as a whole can
prevent those kinds of bugs from occurring in the future.
These responsibilities require creative thinking, flexibility, and experience defining test plans. Because
XP automates repetitive testing rather than performing manual regression testing, testers who are used
to self-directed work are the best fit.
Some XP teams don??™t include dedicated testers. If you don??™t have testers on your team, programmers
and customers should share this role.
WHY SO FEW TESTERS?
As with the customer ratio, I arrived at the one-to-four tester-to-programmer ratio through trial and error. In
fact, that ratio may be a little high. Successful teams I??™ve worked with have had ratios as low as one tester for
every six programmers, and some XP teams have no testers at all.
Manual script-based testing, particularly regression testing, is extremely labor-intensive and requires high
tester-to-programmer ratios.
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