Customer Reviews

The Web Testing Handbook

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of the growing number of web testing books that are being published this is the most complete, and the only one that I've read that tightly aligns testing to the development life cycle. More importantly, this book addresses the realities of web development and testing, which are completely different from those of traditional systems.

Some of the key areas in this book that make it so valuable are: (1) Addressing the plethora of web models (B2B, B2C, intranet, Internet, etc.), each of which presents developers and testers with unique challenges. (2) Showing the vast differences between testing traditional code, which is typically in the form of binaries, and web code, which is in the form of mark-up languages and scripts. An added wrinkle to web testing that is thoroughly covered here is graphics and font types. Traditional testing does not dwell much on these areas, but web testing demands that these software configuration items receive considerable attention during test cycles. (3) Covering every nuance of the one area that differs most from traditional testing compatibility. The authors thoroughly cover issues and factors here, which are important because for web systems in the Internet you have no control over client configurations.

Other chapters in this book that those new to web testing need to carefully read include: navigation, user interaction and usability and accessibility. These are typically given little attention during test cycles of host-based and client/server systems, but are of paramount importance in web-testing. One topic, readability, in Chapter 6 underscores this fact.

I especially liked the three chapters on performance, scalability, and reliability and availability. These are areas that are usually lightly addressed in most testing books, but are covered in a great deal of depth in this book. The chapter on post implementation was also particularly strong and emphasized the fact that web-based systems are, by their nature, dynamic from a configuration and change control point of view.

This book is best-of-breed. It's not only a "must-read" for testing professionals,. It will also provide web system project managers and developers with a wealth of ideas related to their roles, as well as operations and support people who need to also understand the role they have in web system quality assurance.

When looking into books for any tech-related topic, I look for two qualities to assess the value of the book. The first is the depth of the subject matter of the work. I look for books that teach me new technologies, technique, or process. The second is the book's lasting value as a reference for future work. When spending money, I'd like to be sure that the lasting value of the book is at least potentially there. This book has neither of those qualities, here's why:

- Depth of Subject Matter -
It's difficult to determine who this book is written to educate. The forward identifies the audience as existing software testers looking for education in the finer points of web software testing. That's legitimate, but it falls far short of this or any other unstated goals. The delivery of material in this work is quick and dirty. There's no topic that extends beyond a single-digit number of pages. This makes plenty of sense in the early chapters where the discussion of things like hardware compatibility are discussed. Other areas deserve far better coverage. The topics of browser compatibility, performance testing, and scalability testing, for example, are scantly explained. It's a disservice to the reader, since these are paramount topics for the intended audience. Another downfall to this approach is its failure to discuss the organizational differences between an IT team deploying software frequently versus one deploying incremental releases on a yearly timeframe. To be fair, the authors touch on this topic, but it's nothing comprehensive.

- Reference Value -
The reference value of this book is almost zero. I run a test team for a web based business of considerable size, and I have to say I found some actually misleading advice in the work. A lot of the explanations of what's smart and what's avoidable fall completely off the mark. Even worse, and this is actually enough of a reason to start looking for a different book right away, is the poor quality of the references throughout the book. While they spend some considerable time explaining the difference between the time in a normal software development cycle and one that operates under 'web time', they cite sources from two and three years ago that are completely irrelevant considering the widespread and fundamental changes to the online software development domain. They establish 'web time' as an accelerated, hectic calendar where nothing is the same after two months of churning, but then cite references from 1999 market research studies to back up their points. Though definitely not intentional, it's very neglectful. I turned to the front of the book at one point to re-verify the copyright date. ...

So, for me and for my needs, this book is essentially worthless and I'm sad to have spent [$$] to learn this. The topics are covered only as summaries, but those that deserve and in some cases completely require a much deeper explanation are treated similarly. Regarding the intended audience, it's still a head scratcher because of the delivery of the material. It's not heavy in any one area, so it's difficult to determine if this is for a QA manager (can't work, not enough attention to process), the new tester (can't work, not enough detail on the actual testing), the converting tester (might work, but the high-level descriptions coupled with the indescriminate delivery of the subjects would confuse anyone without due insight), or the experienced web tester (can't work, too much of the data is elementary to those already functioning as a tester in the web space). I don't suggest it, and I wouldn't suggest it in a future edition if they work to update the references.

If you are a beginner or intermediate tester/developer and work on internet-based applications or web sites, GET THIS BOOK for your reference shelf and USE IT! Take advantage of the authors' expertise--and save your company money--not to mention increase your knowledge!

The authors have presented basic technical information required for testers and developers to test web sites and internet-based applications. They also give specific strategies, test plans and various checklists to give the reader a jumpstart on testing (especially if you're not sure where to start). They present coherent examples throughout the book. There are also many useful URLs (for further reference) throughout the book.

Everyone will find something in this book they didn't know--or something they didn't think about when doing test planning for their web site. For example, if you don't know which tools to use or why you would need a given tool, or even when to automate your test process, check the references on tools throughout this book. It might just save your company money--and you could look like a hero!

They also give many "heads-ups" throughout the book. Watch for these. Learn--and learn why.

This book will be a ~MUST HAVE~ for everyone who works on web sites and internet-based applications, because anyone that doesn't know this information ~and use it~ cannot create or maintain a successful web site/application.

This book is a must have for the IT professional. Whether you develop, audit, test or administer systems, you will find the information in this book very informative and useful.

The book is logically laid out, with useful case studies, relevant checklists, and proven testing techniques.

I have attended seminars by the author, and have found that the book is an indispensible addition. I've gone through the book twice and continue to find useful techniques.

Definitely recommended!

Testing Web-based applications and web interfaces is a new focus for many companies. Web-based application testing is different from the traditional client / server, PC, and / or mainframe system software products. Also factored in are code quality, browser compatibility, site navigation, user interaction, performance, and scalability.

Recognizing that companies need to conduct evaluation as they develop their "next generation" web sites and applications, The authors have written an insightful introduction to the concepts and techniques for conducting various tests. The book starts with an introduction to web programming, servers, architecture, and all those something 2 something terms (Business to Business (B2B) and Market to Market (M2M) for example). To select and conduct appropriate tests requires an understanding the purpose of the application and the architecture that supports it.

The authors reference a study by Creative Good during the 1998 holiday season on 10 leading Web shopping sites. The study found that for every US$1 spent on advertising generated US$5 in additional review while US$1 spent on "customer experience" improvements yielded more than US$60 in additional review. What more motivation is needed to ensure your Web site is usable?

This handbook guides you through the web testing process. The book is easy to follow and avoids dry "theory" talk that you find in many technical books. How often have you read such a book and found yourself unable to apply it to real world situations? You'll find a handy checklist of test conditions along with URLs for further references associated with the section to help you apply the test concepts. You can take the relevant items from the checklists and create your test case templates. The authors took another step and created a companion Web site using an imaginary company as a case study and included downloadable sample business requirements and test plans associated with the case study.

Covering all of the possible bases, the book offers guidelines and checklists for conducting all kinds of testing that applies to web-based applications, from interface usability to server functionality. It also includes common software development scenarios and provides possible options for handling them. For example, a team may require everyone to work on the weekend to test the Web site's ability to handle a large number of users. However, it may not be the best way to go functionally and financially. The authors explain the reasoning and present available options.

While traditional software developers are probably most familiar with concepts like load testing (determining how much load a server can handle) and software testing (making sure that all of the functionality works), human factors professionals have touted the concept of usability testing as a way of determining how well a user might be able to navigate and use a web site or application. Jakob Nielsen has been one of the most vocal in this. The book provides a variety of methods for testing usability.

The book provides something for everyone in a software development shop including developers, testers, managers, and project managers. Testers get help on how and where to begin. Managers can benefit from the test strategies and planning. Companies new to testing and not knowing which tools and resources to use will want to review the book's unbiased discussion and resources of such tools. You won't feel overwhelmed by the resources because it's organized by sections, which helps you focus on current needs.

The book is well laid out and it's a fast read. It would be difficult to miss its concepts. This well-rounded book would be a boon to any software development team's library even if it were only one person playing all the parts.

I've purchased and been reading this book. I've also reviewed the downloadable sample documents "Master Test Plan" and this is almost exactly what I need for the test plan I'm writing for our extranet site. Before finding this book, I spent hours searching for methods and techniques to use for developing a through test plan. Once I found this resource, my searching was over.

The Web Testing Handbook is an excellent guide to `real world' testing of web sites and web applications. The book includes techniques, tips, checklists and - what I found really useful - lists of relevant URLs giving me instant opportunities to obtain up-to-date research, statistics and further expert opinion. The book also overcomes the problems many people have with endless acronyms by containing explanations of underlying web technologies. As a tester, I found the level just right - not over my head and not (like many Internet books) around my boots.
The book's approach is pragmatic and doesn't seek to give instant answers where none exist. Neither does it push academic approaches, which are never going to work in a high-pressure industry. I found the discussions of issues and solutions to be practical and useful. There is also a case study to reinforce the points made by the author - as well as making the topics more interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone directly or indirectly involved in web testing. It shows testers what to test and how. It gives test managers a framework and an approach to managing web testing - even including information on software tools. It is informative, understandable and, above all, readable.

I got this book whilst in the States (not available in the UK) and instantly was impressed.

It is clear that the authors' experiences are being documented, covering a great deal of the gotchas that prevails in the software industry. I really believe that this book is an absolute must for anyone developing WEB sites; not just testing them!

The only criticism is that the book isn't available in the UK. Please fix this.

This book is about web testing in general, not just performance testing, and is a must have for the professional testing engineer. Chapters 7 and 8, on performance and scalability give a very good introduction to the subject, and include a great sample performance testing plan.

Michael Czeiszperger
Web Performance, Inc. Stress Testing Software
http://www.webperformanceinc.com

Great book... One of the most informative testing books that is web specific. I recommend it to all testers who are interested in manual, automated and performance testing on the web. All my students have loved it, and it's one of the most requested books on my site.