“Don’s book is a very good addition both to the testing literature and to the literature on quality assurance and software engineering... . [It] is likely to become a standard for test training as well as a good reference for professional testers and developers. I would also recommend this book as background material for negotiating outsourced software contracts. I often work as an expert witness in litigation for software with very poor quality, and this book might well reduce or eliminate these lawsuits....” –Capers Jones, VP and CTO, Namcook Analytics LLC Software and system testers repeatedly fall victim to the same pitfalls. Think of them as “anti-patterns”: mistakes that make testing far less effective and efficient than it ought to be. In Common System and Software Testing Pitfalls, Donald G. Firesmith catalogs 92 of these pitfalls. Drawing on his 35 years of software and system engineering experience, Firesmith shows testers and technical managers and other stakeholders how to avoid falling into these pitfalls, recognize when they have already fallen in, and escape while minimizing their negative consequences. Firesmith writes for testing professionals and other stakeholders involved in large or medium-sized projects. His anti-patterns and solutions address both “pure software” applications and “software-reliant systems,” encompassing heterogeneous subsystems, hardware, software, data, facilities, material, and personnel. For each pitfall, he identifies its applicability, characteristic symptoms, potential negative consequences and causes, and offers specific actionable recommendations for avoiding it or limiting its consequences. This guide will help you Pinpoint testing processes that need improvement–before, during, and after the project Improve shared understanding and collaboration among all project participants Develop, review, and optimize future project testing programs Make your test documentation far more useful Identify testing risks and appropriate risk-mitigation strategies Categorize testing problems for metrics collection, analysis, and reporting Train new testers, QA specialists, and other project stakeholders With 92 common testing pitfalls organized into 14 categories, this taxonomy of testing pitfalls should be relatively complete. However, in spite of its comprehensiveness, it is also quite likely that additional pitfalls and even missing categories of pitfalls will be identified over time as testers read this book and compare it to their personal experiences. As an enhancement to the print edition, the author has provided the following location on the web where readers can find major additions and modifications to this taxonomy of pitfalls: http://donald.firesmith.net/home/common-testing-pitfalls Please send any recommended changes and additions to dgf (at) sei (dot) cmu (dot) edu, and the author will consider them for publication both on the website and in future editions of this book.

Software development and quality assurance managers can use this thorough guide to system testing to ensure high-quality software. A worthy reference addition to any library!

Gain an in-depth understanding of software testing management and process issues that are critical for delivering high-quality software on time and within budget. Written by leading experts in the field, this book offers those involved in building and maintaining complex, mission-critical software systems a flexible, risk-based process to improve their software testing capabilities. Whether your organization currently has a well-defined testing process or almost no process, Systematic Software Testing provides unique insights into better ways to test your software.This book describes how to use a preventive method of testing, which parallels the software development lifecycle, and explains how to create and subsequently use test plans, test design, and test metrics. Detailed instructions are presented to help you decide what to test, how to prioritize tests, and when testing is complete. Learn how to conduct risk analysis and measure test effectiveness to maximize the efficiency of your testing efforts. Because organizational structure, the right people, and management are keys to better software testing, Systematic Software Testing explains these issues with the insight of the authorsOCO more than 25 years of experience."

For every weapons system being developed, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) must make a critical decision: Should the system go forward to full-scale production? The answer to that question may involve not only tens of billions of dollars but also the nation's security and military capabilities. In the milestone process used by DOD to answer the basic acquisition question, one component near the end of the process is operational testing, to determine if a system meets the requirements for effectiveness and suitability in realistic battlefield settings. Problems discovered at this stage can cause significant production delays and can necessitate costly system redesign. This book examines the milestone process, as well as the DOD's entire approach to testing and evaluating defense systems. It brings to the topic of defense acquisition the application of scientific statistical principles and practices.

From a leading expositor of testing methods, a practical, comprehensive, hands-on guide to the state-of-the-art black-box testing techniques This book fills a long-standing need in the software and general systems development communities to make the essential aspects of black-box testing available in one comprehensive work. Written by one of the world's most respected figures in the field of testing, it is both a valuable working resource for independent testers and programmers and an excellent practical introduction for students. Dr. Boris Beizer clearly explains the principles behind behavioral testing in general and behind the most important black-box testing techniques in use today, which involve testing a system based on its desired behavior or function and for conformance to its specifications. Then, with fully worked examples, he leads you step-by-step from specifications to finished test cases. Complete coverage of all important test techniquesæincluding those that apply to object-oriented software * Up-to-dateæincluding the most recent breakthroughs in domain testing that now make this technique available to the working tester with no tools needed beyond a calculator or spreadsheet * Examples based on the popular off-the-shelf tax preparation packages let you try the techniques on your favorite tax software * Includes all necessary IRS tax forms * Self-evaluation quizzes help you evaluate your understanding of the material

CD-ROM contains: Canned HEAT v.2.0 -- Holodeck Lite v. 1.0.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 24th IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference on Testing Software and Systems, ICTSS 2012, held in Aalborg, Denmark, in November 2012. The 16 revised full papers presented together with 2 invited talks were carefully selected from 48 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on testing in practice, test frameworks for distributed systems, testing of embedded systems, test optimization, and new testing methods.