Every objective has certain elements that are fundamental to its success. These include the supporting tasks or systems that we take for granted but without which our “real” work could not get done. In order for any organization or team to meet its primary objectives, these fundamentals need to be functioning properly.

Research suggests that humans are biased, not-very-rational decision-makers. We believe we see things clearly when the evidence shows otherwise. Throw in a big dose of optimism, and it's easy to see how estimating software projects can be problematic. Our best hope is to construct diverse groups with varied viewpoints.

With API testing, if you change how the API works—even if it now works better—it will break all of the code written by people using the API. Consequently, testers have a responsibility to make sure they are testing the same contract that was established when the API was first released. Here's how to test APIs right.