Advanced Software Testing - Vol. 1: Guide to the ISTQB Advanced Certification as an Advanced Test Analyst (Rockynook Computing) [Paperback]

Rex Black (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1933952199 | ISBN-13: 978-1933952192 | Publication Date: October 15, 2008 | Edition: 1

This book is written for the test analyst who wants to achieve advanced skills in test analysis, design, and execution. With a hands-on, exercise-rich approach, this book teaches you how to define and carry out the tasks required to put a test strategy into action. Learn how to analyze the system, taking into account the user's quality expectations. Additionally, learn how to evaluate system requirements as part of formal and informal reviews, using an understanding of the business domain to determine requirement validity. You will be able to analyze, design, implement, and execute tests, using risk considerations to determine the appropriate effort and priority for tests. You will learn how to report on testing progress and provide necessary evidence to support your evaluations of system quality.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

With a quarter-century of software and systems engineering experience, Rex Black is President of RBCS (www.rbcs-us.com), a leader in software, hardware, and systems testing. For over a dozen years, RBCS has delivered services in consulting, outsourcing, and training for software and hardware testing. Employing the industry ™s most experienced and recognized consultants, RBCS conducts product testing; builds and improves testing groups; and hires testing staff for hundreds of clients worldwide. Ranging from Fortune 20 companies to start-ups, RBCS ™s clients save time and money through improved product development, decreased tech support calls, improved corporate reputation, and more.

As the leader of RBCS, Rex is the most prolific author practicing in the field of software testing today. His popular first book, Managing the Testing Process, has sold over 30,000 copies around the world, including Japanese, Chinese, and Indian releases. His three other books on testing, Critical Testing Processes, Foundations of Software Testing, and Pragmatic Software Testing, have also sold tens of thousands of copies, including Hebrew, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Russian editions. He has written over twenty-five articles, presented hundreds of papers, workshops, and seminars, and given about thirty keynote speeches at conferences and events around the world. Rex is the President of both the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) and the American Software Testing Qualifications Board (ASTQB).

Product Details

• Paperback: 486 pages
• Publisher: Rocky Nook; 1 edition (October 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933952199
• ISBN-13: 978-1933952192
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Testing
  • #77 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Systems Analysis & Design

More About the Author

With a quarter-century of software and systems engineering experience, Rex Black is President of RBCS (www.rbcs-us.com), a leader in software, hardware, and systems testing. For over fifteen years, RBCS has delivered services in consulting, outsourcing and training for software and hardware testing. Employing the industry's most experienced and recognized consultants, RBCS conducts product testing, builds and improves testing groups and hires testing staff for hundreds of clients worldwide. Ranging from Fortune 20 companies to start-ups, RBCS clients save time and money through improved product development, decreased tech support calls, improved corporate reputation and more. As the leader of RBCS, Rex is the most prolific author practicing in the field of software testing today. His popular first book, Managing the Testing Process, has sold over 35,000 copies around the world, including Japanese, Chinese, and Indian releases, and is now in its third edition. His five other books on testing, Advanced Software Testing: Volume I, Advanced Software Testing: Volume II, Critical Testing Processes, Foundations of Software Testing, and Pragmatic Software Testing, have also sold tens of thousands of copies, including Hebrew, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Russian editions. He has written over thirty articles, presented hundreds of papers, workshops, and seminars, and given about fifty keynotes and other speeches at conferences and events around the world. Rex is the immediate past President of the International Software Testing Qualifications Board and a Director of the American Software Testing Qualifications Board.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful but chaotic and based on too complicated examples, January 26, 2009

By 

Trzaskala "Przemyslaw Trzaskala" (Krakow, Poland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Advanced Software Testing - Vol. 1: Guide to the ISTQB Advanced Certification as an Advanced Test Analyst (Rockynook Computing) (Paperback)

The book covers the minimum of the ISTQB Advanced Test Analyst exam but it does it in a chaotic way. The book is mainly written as a poem, not a technical book. It does not help organize the knowledge we gain while reading.

Chapters 1 and 2 are quite ok (however, experienced testers will not find anything relevant here).

Chapter 3 (Test and Risk management) is quite acceptable however there are too many repetitions from ISTQB Foundation on every page.

Chapter 4 (Test techniques) is much too long, there are some errors in the examples (the same one through the whole book - this is irritating and too schematic) and the reader needs to go through a lot of information that are very subjective and specific only to the writer's company experience. Despite that I think that certain techniques (like cause-effect graphing or boundary value analysis) have been shown quite well and are quite easy to understand even for the novice.

The rest of chapters is acceptable but the way the book is written makes it very user unfriendly.

The examples on which the author tries to explain testing techniques are too 'heavy' - no one on the exam will generate state-transition table with 78 rows or a classification tree with 43 combinations simply because each exam question is given 3 minutes on average to answer.

The book is worth buying mainly for the sample exam questions that come along at the end of each chapter.

I wouldn't have bought this book if I had had a chance to browse through it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Found it Helpful, April 28, 2009

By 

Randy Rice "Software Testing Consultant & Tra... (Oklahoma City, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advanced Software Testing - Vol. 1: Guide to the ISTQB Advanced Certification as an Advanced Test Analyst (Rockynook Computing) (Paperback)

If you are like me, you read the reviews and then get confused because some are glowing and some are 1-stars. I'll try to add a little perspective. First, the intended audience for this book is the person studying for the ISTQB Advanced Test Analyst exam. If that is not you, then you may well wonder what makes the information advanced.

This book follows the new ISTQB advanced syllabus closely. If you are studying on your own, you will find this book covers all the topics that will be on the exam. I used this book to prepare for the advanced test analyst exam and credit it for helping me pass.

I have over 20 years software testing experience, have written over 50 training courses in software testing, and am the co-author of Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing: A People-Oriented Approach. Yet, I still needed the ISTQB perspective on boundary value analysis, state-transition testing and defect management. I could have taken the test cold, but due to the slight variations in terminology understanding and other subtle details, I probably would have failed.

Rex was closely involved in the creation of the new advanced syllabus, so the information is about as close to the source as you can get.

The sample exam questions were also helpful. I liked the readability of the book and frankly didn't see the negatives the other reviewers wrote about.

I don't think any testing book is perfect, but this one will get you where you want to be in preparing for the ISTQB Advanced Test Analyst exam.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Survival Companion to the ISTQB Syllabus, May 26, 2009

By 

Andrea T. Altenkirch "QA Analyst" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Advanced Software Testing - Vol. 1: Guide to the ISTQB Advanced Certification as an Advanced Test Analyst (Rockynook Computing) (Paperback)

Rex Black's book provides the much needed details and relevant and realistic examples that the ISTQB exam syllabus just cannot provide. What better source of information for passing the exam than ISTQB executive member Rex Black who is instrumental in designing the exam itself! Thank you for this book!

The book is well organized and laid out graphically, so that it is easy to pick out the parts that can be skimmed, the tough parts to spend time working through, and the glossary terms and lists to memorize. The examples are very relevant (this person writes the actual test, folks), and give good feedback as to whether the reader is ready or not to pass the exam. All relevant analysis methods are covered complete with diagrams, tables and matrices, and narratives.

Personal experience verified that Mr. Black was accessible when I had issues with the book. The email address he provided on the copyright page of the book was used to contact him, and he responded promptly, having looked into the issue and resolved it within half a day. Bravo! I would not expect this type of response from anyone running a business, serving on international boards, and producing multiple, lengthy, technical books each year.

Rex Black's books provide us professionals who want to take the ISTQB exams a great value. Thank you for writing them. The syllabus does not provide enough to study from and courses are inconvenient and cost too much money. Rex Black's books are just what we needed! They are also well written and easy to follow, and well organized.