Cem Kaner

Cem Kaner J.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Software Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology, and the Director of Florida Tech's Center for Software Testing Education & Research (CSTER) since 2004. He is perhaps best known outside academia as an advocate of software usability and software testing.

Prior to his professorship, Kaner worked in the software industry beginning in 1983 in Silicon Valley "as a tester, programmer, tech writer, software development manager, product development director, and independent software development consultant." In 1988, he and his co-authors Jack Falk and Hung Quoc Nguyen published what became, at the time, "the best selling book on software testing," "Testing Computer Software".cite web |url=http://www.badsoftware.com/alienwaresucks/2005/07/they-fail-to-give-their-advertised.html |title=" They fail to give their advertised discount (Part 2)." |accessdate=2006-07-27 |last=Kaner |first=Cem |date=31 August 2004 |format=Blog |work=Alienware Sucks! |publisher= [http://www.badsoftware.com/ badsoftware.com] See #Publications above for details on editions of "Testing Computer Software."] He has also worked as a user interface designer.

In 2004 he cofounded the non-profit Association for Software Testing, where he serves as the Vice-President for Publications. [cite web |url=http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/documents/ArticlesOfIncorporation04152004.pdf |title=Articles of Incorporation of Association for Software Testing, Inc |accessdate=2006-07-28 |last=Kaner |first=Cem |coauthors=Registered Agent, Association for Software Testing |date=14 April 2004 |format=pdf |publisher= [http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/ Association for Software Testing] ]

Education

Kaner received a Bachelor's Degree from Brock University in 1974, having focused on mathematics and philosophy. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from McMaster University in 1984, with a dissertation in the area of psychophysics (the measurement of perceptual experiences). He later attended Golden Gate University Law School, with a primary interest in the law of software quality, graduating with a J.D. in 1994.

Consumer and Software Quality Advocacy

Kaner worked as a part-time volunteer for the Santa Clara, California Department of Consumer Affairs, investigating and mediating consumer complaints. In the 1990s, he got trial experience working as a full-time volunteer Deputy District Attorney, and later counselled independent consultants, technical book writers, and independent test labs on contract and intellectual property issues as an attorney. He also did legislative work as a consumer protection advocate, including participation in the drafting of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (as an advocate for customers and small software development firms), and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and he participated in the United States Department of State's Advisory Committee on Private International Law: Study Group on Electronic Commerce. In 1999, he was elected to the American Law Institute, after being in practice for only five years. [cite web |url=http://www.kaner.com/resume.html |title=About Me |accessdate=2006-07-27 |last=Kaner |first=Cem |year= [2003?] |work= [http://www.kaner.com kaner.com] ]

This experience led him, in collaboration with David Pels, to publish "Bad Software: What To Do When Software Fails" in 1997. This book was intended "to help people who had bought a defective computer program, with advice on troubleshooting their own problems, interacting with technical support, reporting problems to consumer protection agencies, bringing a lawsuit in small claims court, and if necessary, hiring a lawyer to bring a formal lawsuit."

Publications

:"Note: a more exhaustive list is available on [http://www.kaner.com/articles.html Kaner's own site.]

Books

*cite book |last=Kaner |first=Cem
title=Testing Computer Software |edition=1st |year=1987 |month=December
publisher=TAB Professional & Reference Books |location=N.p. |id=ISBN 0-8306-9563-X
*cite book |last=Kaner |first=Cem |coauthors=Jack Falk, & Hung Quoc Nguyen
title=Testing Computer Software |edition=2nd |year=1993
publisher=International Thomson Computer Press |location=N.p.
*cite book |last=Kaner |first=Cem |coauthors=David L. Pels
title=Bad Software: What To Do When Software Fails |date=28 September 1998
publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=New York |id=ISBN 0-471-31826-4
*cite book |last=Kaner |first=Cem |coauthors=Jack Falk, & Hung Quoc Nguyen
editor=Marjorie Spencer, ed. |title=Testing Computer Software |origyear=1993
edition=2nd (softback) |date=12 April 1999 |publisher=Wiley |location=New York
id=ISBN 0-471-35846-0 (Received the Award of Excellence from the Society for Technical Communication, Northern California Technical Publications Competition.)
*cite book |last=Kaner |first=Cem
coauthors=James Bach & Bret Pettichord |editor=Margaret Eldridge, ed.
title=Lessons Learned in Software Testing: A Context-driven Approach
date=15 December 2001 |publisher=Wiley |location=New York
id=LCC|QA76.76.T48|K34|2001 ISBN 0-471-08112-4
*cite book |last=Kaner |first=Cem
coauthors=James Bach, Hung Quoc Nguyen, Pat McGee & Jack Falk
title=Testing Computer Software |edition=3rd |date=in preparation
publisher=Wiley |location=New York |id=ISBN 1-85032-908-7

Articles

*cite web | first = Cem | last = Kaner | coauthors = John R. Vokey
url = http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/random.pdf | format = pdf | accessdate = 2006-07-27
title = "A Better Random Number Generator for Apple’s Floating Point BASIC"
work = MICRO | pages = 26-35 | date = June 1984
*cite journal | first = Cem | last = Kaner
url = http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/baddocs.pdf |format = pdf
title = Liability for Defective Documentation |accessdate = 2006-07-27
journal = Software QA Quarterly | volume = 2 | issue = 3 | pages = 8–13 | year = 1995
*cite web | first = Cem | last = Kaner
url = http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/WhoLiable.pdf | format = pdf | accessdate = 2006-07-27
title = "Bad Software—Who is Liable?"
work = Proceedings of the American Society for Quality's 52nd Annual Quality Congress
date = May 1998
*cite web | first = Cem | last = Kaner
url = http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/ucreveng.pdf | format = pdf | accessdate = 2006-07-27
title = "Article 2B and Reverse Engineering"
work = Uniform Commercial Code Bulletin | pages = 1-9 | date = November 1998
*cite web | first = Cem | last = Kaner
url = http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/QWjobs.pdf | format = pdf | accessdate = 2006-07-27
title = "Recruiting Software Testers" | publisher = San Jose, CA
work = 12th International Software Quality Conference (Quality Week) | date = June 1999
*cite journal | first = Cem | last = Kaner
url = http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/UcitaSpectrum.pdf |format = pdf
title = UCITA: A disaster in progress |accessdate = 2006-07-27
journal = IEEE Spectrum | volume = 39 | issue = 8 | pages = 13–15
year = 2002 | month = August
doi = 10.1109/MSPEC.2002.1021944

References

External links

* [http://www.kaner.com/ Official Cem Kaner homepage]
* [http://www.satisfice.com/kaner/ Official blog] "On the craft and community of software testing"
* [http://www.badsoftware.com/alienwaresucks/ Alienware sucks blog] "Another tale of woe from someone who bought an Alienware computer." (June to July 2005)
* [http://www.testingeducation.org/ Center for Software Testing Education & Research] at Florida Tech
* [http://www.fit.edu/faculty/profiles/profile.html?value=135 FIT Faculty Profile]