Customer Reviews

Software Testing: A Craftsman's Approach, Second Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Books on software testing fall into two basic categories: (1) those that deal with the test process and (2) those that deal with the actual techniques. Most of the more recent books fall into the first category; although there is some degree of crossover in many of the books. This book, however, deals strictly with techniques. The author doesn't dwell on the process or the associated administrative tasks, although he does touch upon them.

Techniques are presented within the context of formal mathematics. This isn't because the material is academic - it's all based on realistic testing scenarios - but, instead, provides you with proven and effective techniques for testing software in a systematic manner. Because many testers have not been exposed to the formal techniques and underlying math, the first section covers the basics: discrete math, set theory and graph theory. Once you've mastered the basics, which are heavily used in the chapters that address the actual techniques, you'll have all the knowledge that you need to go forward.

The remainder of the book is divided into four sections, each of which covers a specific type of testing. These types are: functional, structural, integration and system, and object-oriented testing. For each there are two to three techniques, plus a retrospective on the section that ties everything together. Also, issues and factors associated with each test type, as well as testing in the whole are discussed, giving you a complete picture of the full suite of testing categories.

Overall, this book is well written and illustrated, but requires effort to get through. This isn't a criticism of the author, who did an outstanding job of conveying information and clearly explaining complex concepts and topics, but reflects the depth of the material. In my opinion a copy of this book should be among the top five in any serious software test professional's library.

The only reason why anyone should buy this book is because they have a college class that requires them to do so. That's the reason why I got it, and man!! I give the author full credit for knowing how to completely confuse his readers with technical details and examples that go way too far.

It is very complete, too complete as a matter of fact, for that I give it 3 stars, I passed my class with an "A" I was able to find everything I needed, but I will sell this book and pretend it was never in my life! it is extremely dry, not very practical, and I feel that it does not give a solid "overall" concept, instead, it goes deep into the weeds. The chapters end abruptly leaving the reader without a clue of what was covered, there should be "summary" sections at the end of each chapter to help you reference the material you just read. The exercise questions are not answered anywhere in the book, what gives? my professor did not have (or provided) the answers (then again, I don't even think he knew how to answer them) I learned more about software testing from the internet and commercial sites offering these services than from this confusing and extremely technical book. Still I passed the class so I guess that's all that matters. Good book for going to sleep.

This is one of the best books on Software Testing I've seen. Not only is the content great (not a lot of the usual fluff - but some "real meat" with examples), but the layout of the book is fantastic as well. It's very easy to just find a topic you are interested in at the moment and get some detail - fast. Excellent job on both content and format!!

"Software Testing: A Craftsman's Approach" is one of the those rare books that has taken on the problems of the Verification Engineer. As all of us know, most books written today are targeted for the development audience and even many of these are either poorly written or try to cover too much area. This book however, though broad in its scope, does a good job of treating all of the important areas in verification and testing.

You will find the book well structured, informative and actually intuitive to navigate through. Each chapter builds on the previous chapters to provide the engineer with a clear idea of all the steps and intricacies involved in testing and verifying complex programs. It can therefore be used by the beginner as a source book for specific test applications, or by the team lead or manager who needs to know more about the actual scope and planning of a complex testing project. This book surely fills a great void in the area of publications software verification.

This book has typos throughout the first 5 chapters we have covered
so far in class. I could not find an errata sheet on the publisher's
web site. The instructor of my Software Testing class says the author
has left these errors in the 2nd edition "for the students to discover".
Apparently, a student will know the subject of Software Testing very well
IF they can find the errors throughout the text!

In other words, a student can't trust the text as an authority on the
subject, but has to discover the errors in the text WHILE attempting
to LEARN what the text is teaching?

FollowUp: I have received an errata sheet from the publisher.
I had to request it through their "Contact Us" link.
Unfortunately it also contains errors that were corrected in the 2nd edition.
but at least one "glaring" error (the year 2000, instead of 1900 in the
NextDate program) is not mentioned. I hope they get that fixed with the
3rd edition (due soon).

Whether you are looking for a beginner's book, or a specialist's reference document in software testing, this books provides it.
I have known Paul for a number of years and we worked together on the ISTQB Advanced Level syllabus, so I can vouch that this is really a compendium of techniques, methods and thoughts that can be used by all, including as basis for Advanced Level courses.
Even though the previous (2nd) edition was good, this one expands on it, and touches topics such as multiprocessor testing (look up the term "threads"), All Pairs and Exploratory Testing. And always with the cheerful yet thought provoking way, one has come to associate with Paul.
A book to have not only on one's shelf, but as a reference on one's bedside table.
I really enjoyed it Paul, and I hope that all of you who buy it will enjoy it too.