Testing Computer Software

by ; ;
Edition: 2nd
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 1999-04-01
Publisher(s): Wiley
List Price: $85.33

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Summary

This book will teach you how to test computer software under real-world conditions. The authors have all been test managers and software development managers at well-known Silicon Valley software companies. Successful consumer software companies have learned how to produce high-quality products under tight time and budget constraints. The book explains the testing side of that success. Who this book is for: * Testers and Test Managers * Project Managers-Understand the timeline, depth of investigation, and quality of communication to hold testers accountable for. * Programmers-Gain insight into the sources of errors in your code, understand what tests your work will have to pass, and why testers do the things they do. * Students-Train for an entry-level position in software development. What you will learn: * How to find important bugs quickly * How to describe software errors clearly * How to create a testing plan with a minimum of paperwork * How to design and use a bug-tracking system * Where testing fits in the product development process * How to test products that will be translated into other languages * How to test for compatibility with devices, such as printers * What laws apply to software quality

Author Biography

CEM KANER consults on technical and software development management issues and teaches about software testing at local universities and at several software companies. He also practices law, usually representing individual developers, small development services companies, and customers. He founded and hosts the Los Altos Workshops on Software Testing. Kaner is the senior author of Bad Software: What to Do When Software Fails (Wiley).<br> <br> JACK FALK consults on software quality management and software engineering management. Jack is certified in Software Quality Engineering by the American Society of Quality. He is Vice Chair of the Santa Clara Valley Software Quality Association and an active participant in the Los Altos Workshops on Software Testing.<br> <br> . NGUYEN is Founder, President, and CEO of softGear technology. He has worked in the computer software and hardware industries, holding management positions in engineering, quality assurance, testing, product development, and information technology, as well as making significant contributions as a tester and programmer. He is an ASQ-Certified Quality Engineer, and a senior member and San Francisco Section Certification Chairman of the American Society for Quality.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii
Notes on the book's structure and layout xvii
Acknowledgments xxi
SECTION 1---FUNDAMENTALS
An example test series
1(16)
The first cycle of testing
1(10)
The second cycle of testing
11(5)
What will happen in later cycles of testing
16(1)
The objectives and limits of testing
17(10)
You can't test a program completely
17(6)
The tester's objective: Program verification?
23(2)
So, why test?
25(2)
Test types and their place in the software development process
27(32)
Overview of the software development stages
30(2)
Planning stages
32(1)
Testing during the planning stages
33(2)
Design stages
35(4)
Testing during the design stages
39(2)
Glass box code testing is part of the coding stage
41(8)
Regression testing
49(1)
Black box testing
50(7)
Maintenance
57(2)
Software errors
59(6)
Quality
59(1)
What is a software error?
60(1)
Categories of software errors
60(5)
Reporting and analyzing bugs
65(22)
Write Problem Reports immediately
66(1)
Content of the Problem Report
66(8)
Characteristics of the Problem Report
74(2)
Analysis of a reproducible bug
76(3)
Tactics for analyzing a reproducible bug
79(3)
Making a bug reproducible
82(5)
SECTION 2---SPECIFIC TESTING SKILLS
The problem tracking system
87(36)
The prime objective of a problem tracking system
90(1)
The tasks of the system
90(1)
Problem tracking overview
90(7)
The users of the tracking system
97(9)
Mechanics of the database
106(9)
Further thoughts on problem reporting
115(6)
Glossary
121(2)
Test case design
123(20)
Characteristics of a good test
124(1)
Equivalence classes and boundary values
125(7)
Visible state transitions
132(1)
Race conditions and other time dependencies
133(1)
Load testing
134(1)
Error guessing
135(1)
Function equivalence testing: automation, sensitivity analysis & random input
135(4)
Regression testing: checking whether a bug fix worked
139(1)
Regression testing: the standard battery of tests
140(1)
Executing the tests
141(2)
Testing printers (and other devices)
143(26)
Some general issues in configuration testing
144(2)
Printer testing
146(23)
Localization testing
169(10)
Was the base code changed?
170(1)
Work with someone fluent in the language
170(1)
Is the text independent from the code?
171(1)
Translated text expands
171(1)
Character sets
171(1)
Keyboards
172(1)
Text filters
172(1)
Loading, saving, importing, and exporting high and low ASCII
173(1)
Operating system language
173(1)
Hot keys
173(1)
Garbled in translation
173(1)
Error message identifiers
174(1)
Hyphenation rules
174(1)
Spelling rules
174(1)
Sorting rules
174(1)
Uppercase and lowercase conversion
174(1)
Underscoring rules
174(1)
Printers
175(1)
Sizes of paper
175(1)
CPU's and video
175(1)
Rodents
175(1)
Data formats and setup options
175(1)
Rulers and measurements
176(1)
Culture-bound graphics
176(1)
Culture-bound output
176(1)
European product compatibility
176(1)
Memory availability
176(1)
Do GUIs solve the problem?
177(1)
Automated testing
177(2)
Testing user manuals
179(10)
Effective documentation
179(1)
The documentation tester's objectives
180(1)
How testing documentation contributes to software reliability
181(1)
Become the technical editor
182(1)
Working with the manual through its development stages
183(5)
Online help
188(1)
Testing tools
189(14)
Fundamental tools
189(2)
Automated acceptance and regression tests
191(6)
Standards
197(3)
Translucent-box testing
200(3)
Test planning and test documentation
203(52)
The overall objective of the test plan: product or tool?
204(1)
Detailed objectives of test planning and documentation
205(5)
What types of tests to cover in test planning documents
210(3)
A strategy for developing components of test planning documents
213(4)
Components of test planning documents
217(25)
Documenting test materials
242(11)
A closing thought
253(2)
SECTION 3---MANAGING TESTING PROJECTS AND GROUPS
Tying it together
255(48)
Software development tradeoffs
257(1)
Software development models
258(6)
Quality-related costs
264(2)
The development time line
266(1)
Product design
267(7)
Fragments coded: first functionality
274(1)
Almost alpha
275(2)
Alpha
277(9)
Pre-beta
286(1)
Beta
286(7)
User interface (UI) freeze
293(2)
Pre-final
295(4)
Final integrity testing
299(2)
Release
301(1)
Project post-mortems
301(2)
Legal consequences of defective software
303(40)
Breach of contract
305(12)
Torts: lawsuits involving fault
317(23)
Whistle blowing
340(3)
Managing a testing group
343(20)
Managing a testing group
344(1)
The role of the testing group
345(4)
A test group is not an unmixed blessing
349(1)
An alternative? Independent test agencies
350(2)
Scheduling tips
352(7)
Your staff
359(4)
Appendix: common software errors 363(74)
User interface errors
375(21)
Error handling
396(3)
Boundary-related errors
399(2)
Calculation errors
401(2)
Initial and later states
403(3)
Control flow errors
406(10)
Errors in handling or interpreting data
416(5)
Race conditions
421(2)
Load conditions
423(4)
Hardware
427(3)
Source, version, and ID control
430(2)
Testing errors
432(5)
References 437(14)
Index 451(29)
About the Authors 480

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