Systematic Software Testing (Artech House Computer Library) [Hardcover]

Rick D. Craig (Author), Stefan P. Jaskiel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1580535089 | ISBN-13: 978-1580535083 | Publication Date: January 2002

This textbook sets out to provide professionals with an in-depth understanding of the software-testing people and process issues that are critical for delivering high-quality software on time and within budget. The authors aim to give those involved in building and maintaining complex, mission-critical software systems a flexible, risk-based process to improve their software-testing capabilities. Whether an organization currently has a well-defined testing process or almost no process, this resource provides insights into better ways to test software. This guide is written for: software-test managers; testers; developers; quality-assurance managers; and software configuration managers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rick D. Craig, an experienced test manager and consultant at Software Quality Engineering, has spoken at testing conferences every year since 1985. Rick has helped hundreds of companies throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas improve their testing practices. Rick is the former American editor of Software Quality Management magazine, an active member of Mensa of America, and a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He is a technical editor for StickyMinds.com, a community Web site for software testing and quality engineering managers and professionals. Stefan P. Jaskiel is an information manager experienced in the development of technical documentation. He has developed a wide variety of reference manuals, online help systems, and multimedia CD-ROMs for hardware and software applications in client/server, Web, and PC environments. Stefan has led the design and development of systems/processes for managing and disseminating technical information.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 536 pages
• Publisher: Artech House Publishers (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580535089
• ISBN-13: 978-1580535083
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Testing
  • #91 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Systems Analysis & Design

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete, practical and proven approach to testing, May 22, 2002

By 

Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Systematic Software Testing (Artech House Computer Library) (Hardcover)

This book provides a detailed roadmap for establishing and managing a comprehensive test process that is closely aligned to the IEEE standards for software testing. The process, called Systematic Test and Evaluation Process (STEP) is designed to improve quality by early involvement in the development life cycle instead of having testing as an activity on the critical path at the end of the build phase. This approach ensures early detection of defects, including those introduced in the requirements, specifications and design milestones. Clearly, the STEP approach supports testing and SQA (where SQA is an oversight function outside of the testing domain).

The STEP process has three main steps:
1. Plan the test strategy (develop a master test plan and associated detailed test plans).
2. Acquire testware (define test objectives, design and create test plans).
3. Measure (execute the tests, ensure that tests are adequate and monitor the process itself).
This framework is supported in Chapters 2-8, each of which addresses supporting activities and artifacts in detail. Chapter 2 covers risk analysis since testing is by its nature done to reduce the risk of defects escaping into production systems. I like the way the authors separate technical and schedule risks in this chapter because each are integral to the realities of testing.

Chapters 3 and 4 show how to perform master and detailed test planning, and provide example plan templates and how to develop them, and requirements and factors for each test phase for the detailed planning (unit, integration, system and acceptance testing).

The analysis and design activities covered in chapter 5 are focused on test design. The systematic and structured way the authors approach these activities walks you through developing test cases. You're shown how to ensure that they account for requirements and features, and are given high level advice about how to types of tests to employ. Test implementation covered in Chapter 6 introduces organization and process issues from a team perspective. One of the strongest chapters, 7, does deeply into the issues and factors surrounding test execution, and gives metrics to consider and internal processes for managing defects. I felt that this chapter should have paid more attention to issue and defect management from an enterprise problem management perspective, but despite this the information is solid.

The chapters that will most benefit test managers, especially new ones, are 8 through 10 that address the test organization, people and management issues. These sections would warm the heart of HR professionals and is unique in that leadership is given the same weight as management techniques. The detailed comparison of certifications from ASQ (CSQE), IEEE (CSDP), QAI (CSTE) and IIST (CSTP) includes everything you need to know to select the best certification to pursue, including salary increase data for each of these certifications. I also liked the chapter on improving the test process and thought the discussions of the CMM and the TPI model that is the subject of Test Process Improvement: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Structured Testing discussed. The appendices are also valuable in that they provide a glossary and templates that are consistent with IEEE specifications for software testing, and other valuable aids, such as checklists, an example master test plan and process diagrams.

Overall, the 15 years of field experience in teaching testing that is embodied in this book shows. It's practical, captures best practices and provides a solid model for a process-oriented test organization that employs preventive techniques.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars User Friendly, April 13, 2003

By 

Moshe Reuveni - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Systematic Software Testing (Artech House Computer Library) (Hardcover)

What strikes me most about this book is its friendliness and readability. The book is written in an easy and flowing manner, using day-to-day language. It's assembled in template style, which makes it extremely easy to implement its ideas. While this may not sound like much, these attributes make this book quite an entertaining read that scores high on effectiveness. Supplemented by an effective website...it does still suffer from some lack of depth and detail, though.
The fully detailed "Sample Master Test Plan" provided by the book serves as an example for its mixture of usefulness coupled with a relative lack of depth. While quite effective, and certainly a nice feature that's easy to learn from, it is not the most fully detailed test plan I have ever seen, nor is it a match for a big scale project's master test plan. However, it is the best example for a test plan that I have seen in any testing book.
Further comparisons with other testing books I've used make it clear: Applying the Pareto principle on it, this book gives you the 20% that you need in order to perform 80% of all you will ever want when it comes to testing. It may not sound like much, but this is a mighty achievement.
The bottom line: This book will probably serve anyone who is into software testing. However, if you are looking to kick-start your organization into proper testing methodologies, or if you are new to the software testing arena, it would be a sin not to give this book a try.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Destined to be the standard reference for test processes, May 26, 2002

By 

Linda Zarate "IT Ops Consultant" (Azusa, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Systematic Software Testing (Artech House Computer Library) (Hardcover)

There are two things about this book that make it the best book on software testing that's currently available: (1) it gives you a complete, proven process and the details and documents needed to implement and use the process, and (2) it is a page turner. Yes, a page turner, and the reason I make this claim is that on nearly every page is a text box that gives anecdotes, opinions and stories from real life. That, plus the conversational writing style that the authors effectively use makes what could be a dry topic lively and fun to read.

Good writing alone does not make a technical book 'the best currently available' without other distinguishing features. Here's what sets this book apart from all others:

* The core processes and details are based on IEEE standards, but they don't adhere to them. Instead the authors have taken the 15 years of experience from teaching a course that evolved into this book and have used what works, modified what doesn't work so well, and have incorporated field experience from their own testing background as well as suggestions and recommendations from their students. The net result is a standards-based and systematic approach that is tempered with practical experience.

* All of the software testing artifacts and deliverables are provided in both template and worked example form. This alone will give test engineers and their organizations a standard, proven format for these critical documents.

* Testing is not treated as a standalone process. The authors show how testing is connected to requirements, business imperatives, and project management. This is a realistic view of the real world.

There is much more to this book than the highlights I cited, but the previous reviewer covered them well. I cannot think of a single client for whom I've consulted and advised who would not benefit from adopting this book as their test process manual. I cannot think of a single topic of any importance that is not covered in the book, and believe that this book will become the standard reference for test process management for years to come.