Arlo Belshee and I are delivering "Slow and Brittle: Replacing End-to-End Testing" at 4:00pm Thursday on the Testing stage of Agile 2009. This should be a fun session: we're asking gurus to join us in a workshop format to figure out alternatives to end-to-end tests. Here's the blurb:

End-to-end tests appear everywhere: test-driven development, story-test-driven development, acceptance testing, functional testing, and system testing. They?re also slow, brittle, and expensive. In this expert-level workshop, we will discuss why end-to-end testing is used, examine where and why it breaks down, and generate more effective solutions. We will spark ideas for participants to explore further on their own.

We will not be debating the premise (that end-to-end tests are problematic). This is an expert-level workshop and attendees will be expected to participate fully.