The question I was asked most frequently when I joined Microsoft a year and a half ago was “why on earth are you going back into test?”

My old co-workers laughed at me. Friends that were die-hard C++ guys thought I was crazy.

In hindsight, I guess it was a good question - I had spent the last 6 1/2 years as a senior engineer/architect at BSQUARE and most of my Seattle friends knew me as a software developer. I was always writing some piece of software, or coming up with some crazy software idea (I was laughed at when I wrote a VOIP app on Pocket PC 3 years ago, or suggested a cell phone merge back in 1999). Most didn’t know I had a secret past at Symantec a long time ago as a tester on “Enterprise Developer” (well, Randy did since we worked together).

Here’s the honest answer: Just being a ‘dev’ wasn’t fun for me any more.

When I was offered the job at Microsoft on the Indigo team, it enabled me to take a step back and really figure out what I wanted to do. I remembered how much fun I had testing at Symantec, and being an SDET at Microsoft would allow me to keep writing code (in fact, I write more code now than I did as a developer), work with some great people, and have influence on products that were really used. Not only has it allowed me to get back to doing some core computer science work (“testing ain’t button pushing“), I’ve been able to unleash my sick and twisted side in the name of product reliability. Michael has an awesome post that highlights the mark of a great tester, and I agree 100%.

And, happy to say, 16 months later I’m still having a blast.