How We Test Software at Microsoft® and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more



or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $1.76 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading How We Test Software at Microsoft® on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

How We Test Software at Microsoft [Paperback]

Alan Page , Ken Johnston , Bj Rollison
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

List Price: $44.99
Price: $29.84 & FREE Shipping. Details
You Save: $15.15 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 4 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it tomorrow, May 23? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $28.35  
Paperback $29.84  
Shop the new tech.book(store)
New! Introducing the tech.book(store), a hub for Software Developers and Architects, Networking Administrators, TPMs, and other technology professionals to find highly-rated and highly-relevant career resources. Shop books on programming and big data, or read this week's blog posts by authors and thought-leaders in the tech industry. > Shop now

Book Description

December 10, 2008

It may surprise you to learn that Microsoft employs as many software testers as developers. Less surprising is the emphasis the company places on the testing discipline—and its role in managing quality across a diverse, 150+ product portfolio.

This book—written by three of Microsoft’s most prominent test professionals—shares the best practices, tools, and systems used by the company’s 9,000-strong corps of testers. Learn how your colleagues at Microsoft design and manage testing, their approach to training and career development, and what challenges they see ahead. Most important, you’ll get practical insights you can apply for better results in your organization.

Discover how to:

  • Design effective tests and run them throughout the product lifecycle
  • Minimize cost and risk with functional tests, and know when to apply structural techniques
  • Measure code complexity to identify bugs and potential maintenance issues
  • Use models to generate test cases, surface unexpected application behavior, and manage risk
  • Know when to employ automated tests, design them for long-term use, and plug into an automation infrastructure
  • Review the hallmarks of great testers—and the tools they use to run tests, probe systems, and track progress efficiently
  • Explore the challenges of testing services vs. shrink-wrapped software

Frequently Bought Together

How We Test Software at Microsoft + How Google Tests Software
Price for both: $55.96

Buy the selected items together
  • How Google Tests Software $26.12


Product Details

  • Paperback: 405 pages
  • Publisher: Microsoft Press; 1 edition (December 10, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0735624259
  • ISBN-13: 978-0735624252
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.9 x 7.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Spoiler Alert: Software is tested at Microsoft with mind-numbing bureaucracy and buzzwords.

I understand this is a "how we do testing a Microsoft" book, but I at least expected a few real code samples, unit tests, test automation scripts, or test plan samples. Instead, code samples were obviously simple functions thrown together by the author, and in-depth testing samples are nowhere to be found.

Instead, this book mostly comes off as an HR manual. MS's testing career path is documented in agonizing detail, and the author tries too hard to suck up to his bosses. Seriously, he actually tells the reader to search for Steve Balmer speeches on Live.com to become inspired.

Once they actually start talking about testing, it is incredibly vague and buzzword laden. There are a few good pieces of advice here, but nothing you won't find in a far better book.

The key question of how software is tested at MS is never really answered. For example:

1. Linux maintainers use Coverity on the Linux Kernel. Does MS use such tools on their Kernel?
2. What sort of scripting languages are used for automation testing of Office or Windows or any other MS product?
3. What sort of Unit Testing software do MS developers use? CppUnit? NUnit? The Unit testing feature in VS2008? What do some of these unit tests look like?
4. What does the typical test plan at MS look like?
5. What sort of white-box testing do developers perform? There are a few vague references to unit testing, but what about performance and coverage testing? What specific tools do they use? What do their result reports look like?

After reading this book, I'm hard pressed to answer any of these.

I would strongly advise people new to testing to avoid this book; otherwise they will be discouraged. Testing can actually be fun and interesting--this book is not.

P.S., I notice the high reviews of this book are from Microsoft employees. Conflict of interest, anyone?
Was this review helpful to you?
10 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great general book on testing December 17, 2008
Format:Paperback
Great insight into software testing, with a nice balance of stories, process, and test techniques. I now work at Microsoft as an SDET, after many years testing and developing at other software companies, but was still was eagerly awaiting this book.

I'm fascinated by how testers learn their craft, how testing balances the pragmatic and theoretical, and how testers grow in their career. This book covered all that, as well as providing an insight into testing at Microsoft.

For software testers, or anyone interested in software development, this book joins other books I'd recommend, including A Practitioner's Guide to Software Test Design, Testing Computer Software, How to Break Software, and (for security) Hunting Security Bugs.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
14 of 20 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing May 5, 2009
By Hima
Format:Paperback
I was disappointed by this book. The bottom line is that this book has nothing in it which isn't covered better by other software testing books. And the information which is specific to Microsoft is not useful to anyone who is not a Microsoft employee. As another reviewer correctly pointed out, this book does not contain detailed information about specific software testing techniques. That's OK. The book does give all the pertinent acronyms and buzzwords, but paradoxically goes into too much detail, which obscures the important principles. In short, if you want a book which explains software testing techniques used at Microsoft, this is not the book for you. If you want a book which explains testing principles, you are better off with Kaner's "Testing Computer Software" or Patton's "Software Testing". This book might be useful for senior level software testing managers at Microsoft who are looking for a light story-based approach. I suspect there is a good reason why this book was published by Microsoft Press rather than by an impartial publishing company.

Pros: Generally well written and maybe an enjoyable read for experienced Microsoft managers.

Cons: Not technique based as the title might suggest, and not nearly as good as existing books for software testing principles.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Great information and content but poor quality printing
The print job is miss-aligned, there are graphics that cover text and you have to guess what they're trying to say. I am very surprised this made it past their QC checks.
Published 3 months ago by Mama Birdy 64
4.0 out of 5 stars good book for overview of software testing
There are lot of books that talks about how to test and what to test but do you want to know how testing is done at one of the biggest software company in the world then this is... Read more
Published 22 months ago by K. Patel
5.0 out of 5 stars good book
This book is one of the best books i've ever read. it has lot of good information, not only related to Microsoft way of testing, but also general concepts and guidelines.
Published on May 2, 2010 by Amro Altahlawi
4.0 out of 5 stars Microsoft Testing Only
This book was good but it obviously focuses on technologies that are specific to Microsoft. In my case I thought it was a great book since most of the things I work on are... Read more
Published on March 16, 2010 by Oscar Azmitia
5.0 out of 5 stars Good not only for testers
I would recommend this book not only for testers, but anyone involved somehow on development process. Read more
Published on September 28, 2009 by Rogerio P. Santos
4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for all current and would-be testers.
In "How We Test Software at Microsoft", Alan Page, Ken Johnston, and Bj Rollison provide a terrific mix of insight into Microsoft, along with in-depth explanations of practical... Read more
Published on July 24, 2009 by Joseph S. Strazzere
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book on Software Testing
This book is one of my favorities on Software Testing. I would recommend this book to every one who wants get a fresh perspective on software testing/SQA. Read more
Published on June 6, 2009 by Vamsi Nellutla
4.0 out of 5 stars A great book to learn from great experts
As I'm responsible for software testing in another great company, I always like to look how other comparable companies do their job in testing. Read more
Published on January 31, 2009 by Manfred Dietz
5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding resource for software testers
I have been a software tester, SDET, for over ten years, and while I stay current with the industry via books and websites, I learned a long time ago that software testing books... Read more
Published on January 29, 2009 by Sally Foster
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category