My two favorite talks at Open Source Bridge this year aren't mine: they're my friends talks about accessibility, and about a parallel testing system written in Go.

Nevertheless, I'm excited about the talks I'm going to give. I hope to see you there: Register for Open Source Bridge, June 21-24.

Black Pipe Testing, or "@#$! Up Your App by Impersonating a Database"

A “black box” test sends input to your program and tests the output. But a networked application has I/O at two ends: the API and the network. A black box test can’t validate it, especially its error-handling. But a “black pipe” test can! Such a test talks to your code over the network at the same time as it tests the API. I’ll present a handy library for Black Pipe tests of MongoDB apps and advise you when to use it. I want you to write a library like it for your favorite DB, so we can all test our programs better!

Dodge Disasters and March to Triumph as a Mentor

You can set yourself up for triumph as a mentor, by getting the prerequisites in place before your apprentice even arrives. You need to be a technical expert in what your apprentice is working on, the guiding visionary must be present, you need small clear goals, and you and your apprentice must be sympatico.

If you're a senior engineer, you must learn to mentor new hires. Besides, great mentors are critical to the careers of women and minorities in tech. The good news is, there's a method you can apply. Learn from me and march to mentorship triumph.

Images:

• Trailway Coffee Shop, "Central Oregon's most popular family restaurant", Hiway 20 & Bond, Bend, Oregon. 1930s postcard courtesy Boston Public Library.
• Cooling pipe for Saturn V rocket test system. NASA, 1963.
• Mentor and Telemachus. Pablo E. Fabisch, illustration for "Aventuras de Telémaco", 1699.