Just Say No to Flaky Tests: Releasing Code with Confidence

Shivani Sharma doesn’t like anything flaky—unless it’s baked goods.

Shivani is senior engineering manager at Slack, working on test automation for Slack’s iOS, Android and web applications. An avid baker, Shivani thinks flakiness should stay in the kitchen.

Although “flaky” is a common adjective describing automated tests, the Slack test automation team wanted to be better and create value by delivering deterministic results. The team’s mission is “to make our software development process simpler, more productive and our product more pleasant to use.”

Worthy goals, to be sure. To that end, Shivani will present on, “Releasing Code with Confidence,” at the upcoming SauceCon conference in San Francisco June 6-8. Her presentation will discuss how Slack’s automation team approached the common problem of flaky tests to build a reliable feedback system into their continuous integration pipeline for code hundreds of developers write and release every day. This talk will provide actionable takeaways that can be used in other organizations, too.

In addition to baking and “crème brûlée-ing,” as she describes it, Shivani is an avid runner and has run eight half-marathons. To give her knees a break, she’s excited to participate in her first Olympic distance triathlon this summer. She has spent 10 years working in Silicon Valley, holding positions at Google, BigFix and IBM, as well as Slack. Shivani holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.

SauceCon, the first-ever Sauce Labs user conference, is a three-day event filled with training, workshops, best practices and visionary content from the leading minds in automated testing. For more on upcoming SauceCon presentations or to register, visit the SauceCon website.

About the Author / Rebecca Cramer

Rebecca Cramer is a writer and communications strategist specializing in technology. With more than 20 years of experience across disciplines including marketing, internal and executive communications at companies such as Dell and Quest Software, Rebecca is passionate about creating and sharing good content of all kinds. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time at the beach and hiking in her native Southern California.