The Art of Software Testing [Hardcover]

Glenford J. Myers (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471043281 | ISBN-13: 978-0471043287 | Publication Date: February 20, 1979 | Edition: 1

Provides a practical rather than theoretical discussion of the purpose and nature of software testing. Emphasizes methodologies for the design of effective test cases. Comprehensively covers psychological and economic principles, managerial aspects of testing, test tools, high-order testing, code inspections, and debugging. Extensive bibliography. Programmers at all levels, and programming students, will find this reference work indispensible.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Provides a practical rather than theoretical discussion of the purpose and nature of software testing. Emphasizes methodologies for the design of effective test cases. Comprehensively covers psychological and economic principles, managerial aspects of testing, test tools, high-order testing, code inspections, and debugging. Extensive bibliography. Programmers at all levels, and programming students, will find this reference work indispensible.

From the Inside Flap

When this book was first published in 1979, software testing was far from an exact science. Considered the "dark art" of software development, it was a little-understood process without a set of standard principles.Twenty-five years later, testing hasn’t really changed–but The Art of Software Testing has.

In addition to all the major software testing topics–such as higher-order testing, white- and black-box testing, debugging, code inspections, and walkthroughs–this fully updated Second Edition features up-to-date information on testing twenty-first-century software projects, including vital Internet-based e-commerce applications, as well as details on Extreme Testing, which supports the widely used Extreme Programming development methodology.

Just like the first edition, this revision fills the gaps in the professional literature and provides a practical, rather than theoretical, discussion of the purpose, nature, and principles of proper testing. While the book focuses on methodologies for the design of effective test cases, it also covers the psychological and economic issues that are essential to a full understanding of program testing.

Many programming students enter the workforce without the proper understanding of software testing. This book covers all the essential topics for those students, but also provides all the detail and precision that working programmers might need during the testing phase. Appropriate for programmers and students at any level, The Art of Software Testing, Second Edition presents all the latest new ideas and techniques–many illustrated with helpful examples. Comprehensive and always practical, this essential guide includes code-inspection checklists, a self-assessment test, and other resources programmers need for effective testing–and fewer bugs. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 20, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471043281
• ISBN-13: 978-0471043287
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Testing
  • #82 in Books > Education & Reference > Education > Questions & Answers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic that is still useful, June 1, 2000

By 

Cem Kaner, J.D, Ph.D. (Palm Bay, FL United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Art of Software Testing (Hardcover)

......... this is probably not the first book that you would buy about software testing.

However, the book is a classic and it deserves a place on a serious tester's bookshelf.

Its examples are dated, I think its description of cause-effect graphing is incomprehensible, and its catalog of test types in the pages from 103 forward is sketchy.

The book is valuable because its presentation of the basic issues is clear, concise, and persuasive. The discussion of equivalence classes and boundaries is remarkably clear. When we wrote Testing Computer Software, one of our goals was to handle this important topic as clearly and crisply as Myers. That was a challenge, and I'm not sure we succeeded. (Jorgensen's Software Testing: A Craftsman's Approach does a great job with this topic.) The discussion of bias (one of the issues in the psychology of testing) is also well done.

In short, the first 103 pages of the book are some of the best writing in the field and have had a powerful influence on the writers who came later. Reading them in the original will often, I suspect, make subsequent presentations clearer and more meaningful.

-- Cem Kaner (senior author: Testing Computer Software)

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Must Have" Reference in Every Software Tester's Library, September 7, 2000

By 

Just a Dude "Really" (San Diego, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Software Testing (Hardcover)

This is by far the most concise and insightful book I've ever read about code level testing. It does not have all the nitty gritty details of every which method ever invented, nor does go into details about the paperwork. But the lists of principles and checklists are priceless.

I would not recommend this book for beginners since it is hard for inexperienced testers to pick out the gems from the dated items.

I agree with a previous review that stated that the first hundred or so pages are must reads. Don't be put off by the $ per page ratio. This book is worth every penny.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A standard reference in software testing., December 4, 1998

By 

Doug Claflin ([e-mail]) (greater Boston Ma.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Software Testing (Hardcover)

Like all standard references, one can argue that the book is dated. In details perhaps yes, though my professional experience indicates that a 25 year old book still defines a higher level of software testing than the current state of the practice.

The first 75 pages lay out the basic approaches to software testing and make for easy technical reading. More detailed graph theory follows and helps take the reader to a more rigorous approach.

Please feel free to contact me for more detailed insght and opinions.

Doug Claflin; President - Maritime Design