Chapter 1&2 doc Copyright Preface Organization Audience Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Requirements Phase Item 1 Involve Testers from the Beginning Item 2 Verify the Requirements Item 3 Design Test Procedu[.]
Copyright Preface Organization Audience Acknowledgments Chapter Requirements Phase Item 1: Involve Testers from the Beginning Item 2: Verify the Requirements Item 3: Design Test Procedures As Soon As Requirements Are Available Item 4: Ensure That Requirement Changes Are Communicated Item 5: Beware of Developing and Testing Based on an Existing System Chapter Test Planning Item 6: Understand the Task At Hand and the Related Testing Goal Item 7: Consider the Risks Item 8: Base Testing Efforts on a Prioritized Feature Schedule Item 9: Keep Software Issues in Mind Item 10: Acquire Effective Test Data Item 11: Plan the Test Environment Item 12: Estimate Test Preparation and Execution Time Chapter The Testing Team Item 13: Define Roles and Responsibilities Item 14: Require a Mixture of Testing Skills, Subject-Matter Expertise, and Experience Item 15: Evaluate the Tester's Effectiveness Chapter The System Architecture Item 16: Understand the Architecture and Underlying Components Item 17: Verify That the System Supports Testability Item 18: Use Logging to Increase System Testability Item 19: Verify That the System Supports Debug and Release Execution Modes Chapter Test Design and Documentation Item 20: Divide and Conquer Item 21: Mandate the Use of a TestProcedure Template and Other TestDesign Standards Item 22: Derive Effective Test Cases from Requirements Item 23: Treat Test Procedures As "Living" Documents Item 24: Utilize System Design and Prototypes Item 25: Use Proven Testing Techniques when Designing Test-Case Scenarios Item 26: Avoid Including Constraints and Detailed Data Elements within Test Procedures Item 27: Apply Exploratory Testing Chapter Unit Testing Item 28: Structure the Development Approach to Support Effective Unit Testing Item 29: Develop Unit Tests in Parallel or Before the Implementation Item 30: Make Unit-Test Execution Part of the Build Process Chapter Automated Testing Tools Item 31: Know the Different Types of Testing-Support Tools Item 32: Consider Building a Tool Instead of Buying One Item 33: Know the Impact of Automated Tools on the Testing Effort Item 34: Focus on the Needs of Your Organization Item 35: Test the Tools on an Application Prototype Chapter Automated Testing: Selected Best Practices Item 36: Do Not Rely Solely on Capture/Playback Item 37: Develop a Test Harness When Necessary Item 38: Use Proven Test-Script Development Techniques Item 39: Automate Regression Tests When Feasible Item 40: Implement Automated Builds and Smoke Tests Chapter Nonfunctional Testing Item 41: Do Not Make Nonfunctional Testing an Afterthought Item 42: Conduct Performance Testing with Production-Sized Databases Item 43: Tailor Usability Tests to the Intended Audience Item 44: Consider All Aspects of Security, for Specific Requirements and SystemWide Item 45: Investigate the System's Implementation To Plan for Concurrency Tests Item 46: Set Up an Efficient Environment for Compatibility Testing Chapter 10 Managing Test Execution Item 47: Clearly Define the Beginning and End of the Test-Execution Cycle Item 48: Isolate the Test Environment from the Development Environment Item 49: Implement a Defect-Tracking Life Cycle Item 50: Track the Execution of the Testing Program Copyright Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks Where those designations appear in this book, and Addison-Wesley was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters or in all capitals The author and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or omissions No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information or programs contained herein The publisher offers discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases and special sales For more information, please contact: U.S Corporate and Government Sales (800) 382-3419 corpsales@pearsontechgroup.com For sales outside of the U.S., please contact: International Sales (317) 581-3793 international@pearsontechgroup.com Visit Addison-Wesley on the Web: www.awprofessional.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dustin, Elfriede Effective software testing : 50 specific ways to improve your testing / Elfriede Dustin p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 0-201-79429-2 Computer software Testing I Title QA76.76.T48 D873 2002 005.1'4— dc21 2002014338 Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher Printed in the United States of America Published simultaneously in Canada For information on obtaining permission for use of material from this work, please submit a written request to: Pearson Education, Inc Rights and Contracts Department 75 Arlington Street, Suite 300 Boston, MA 02116 Fax: (617) 848-7047 Text printed on recycled paper 10— MA— 0605040302 First printing, December 2002 Dedication To Jackie, Erika, and Cedric Preface In most software-development organizations, the testing program functions as the final "quality gate" for an application, allowing or preventing the move from the comfort of the software-engineering environment into the real world With this role comes a large responsibility: The success of an application, and possibly of the organization, can rest on the quality of the software product A multitude of small tasks must be performed and managed by the testing team— so many, in fact, that it is tempting to focus purely on the mechanics of testing a software application and pay little attention to the surrounding tasks required of a testing program Issues such as the acquisition of proper test data, testability of the application's requirements and architecture, appropriate test-procedure standards and documentation, and hardware and facilities are often addressed very late, if at all, in a project's life cycle For projects of any significant size, test scripts and tools alone will not suffice— a fact to which most experienced software testers will attest Knowledge of what constitutes a successful end-to-end testing effort is typically gained through experience The realization that a testing program could have been much more effective had certain tasks been performed earlier in the project life cycle is a valuable lesson Of course, at that point, it's usually too late for the current project to benefit from the experience Effective Software Testing provides experience-based practices and key concepts that can be used by an organization to implement a successful and efficient testing program The goal is to provide a distilled collection of techniques and discussions that can be directly applied by software personnel to improve their products and avoid costly mistakes and oversights This book details 50 specific software testing best practices, contained in ten parts that roughly follow the software life cycle This structure itself illustrates a key concept in software testing: To be most effective, the testing effort must be integrated into the software-development process as a whole Isolating the testing effort into one box in the "work flow" (at the end of the software life cycle) is a common mistake that must be avoided The material in the book ranges from process- and management-related topics, such as managing changing requirements and the makeup of the testing team, to technical aspects such as ways to improve the testability of the system and the integration of unit testing into the development process Although some pseudocode is given where necessary, the content is not tied to any particular technology or application platform It is important to note that there are factors outside the scope of the testing program that bear heavily on the success or failure of a project Although a complete software-development process with its attendant testing program will ensure a successful engineering effort, any project must also deal with issues relating to the business case, budgets, schedules, and the culture of the organization In some cases, these issues will be at odds with the needs of an effective engineering environment The recommendations in this book assume that the organization is capable of adapting, and providing the support to the testing program necessary for its success Organization This book is organized into 50 separate items covering ten important areas The selected best practices are organized in a sequence that parallels the phases of the system development life cycle The reader can approach the material sequentially, item-by-item and part-by-part, or simply refer to specific items when necessary to gain information about and understanding of a particular problem For the most part, each chapter stands on its own, although there are references to other chapters, and other books, where helpful to provide the reader with additional information Chapter describes requirements-phase considerations for the testing effort It is important in the requirements phase for all stakeholders, including a representative of the testing team, to be involved in and informed of all requirements and changes In addition, basing test cases on requirements is an essential concept for any large project The importance of having the testing team represented during this phase cannot be overstated; it is in this phase that a thorough understanding of the system and its requirements can be obtained Chapter covers test-planning activities, including ways to gain understanding of the goals of the testing effort, approaches to determining the test strategy, and considerations related to data, environments, and the software itself Planning must take place as early as possible in the software life cycle, as lead times must be considered for implementing the test program successfully Early planning allows for testing schedules and budgets to be estimated, approved, and incorporated into