System Testing with an Attitude

by Nathan Petschenik

Book Overview

Petschenik, an international consultant on software testing, shows how to cultivate relationships between developers and system testers, stressing the importance of preventing problems in the system... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0932633463
• ISBN13: 9780932633460
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Dorset House Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

How to design a system testing plan that raises the probability of success to the highest possible l

Software testing is one of the most daunting tasks that can ever be attempted. You know up front that not only is it impossible to test all possible scenarios, in nearly all cases the best you can do is test a trivial fraction of the possible scenarios. Furthermore, testing is not a job for those lacking in courage, when the problems are discovered and reported, many programmers tend to give severely negative responses. Finally, there are several levels of testing, the smallest of the unit up through the test of the complete system. This virtual minefield is one that must be traversed if quality software is to be the final product. Therefore, with no choice, one of the best things that you can do is to don the body armor of having a defensible and sensible plan and the mental force of will to carry it out. Both are contained in this book, the plans and the reasons for them are stated in detail with listings of potential problems. The section headings are: *) Part I: System Testing Issues *) Part II: System Testing Solutions *) Solutions Section A: Establishing the System-Testing Methodology, Techniques and Tools *) Solutions Section B: Executing System Tests While Influencing Project Behavior *) Solutions Section C: Organizing and Sizing *) Solutions Section D: Changing Project Attitudes As you can see, the emphasis is on solutions rather than explaining the problems to death. This is a commendable approach as the problems are generally well known and in many cases obvious. When it comes time to establish a testing strategy, and that time is very early in the project, this is one of the books you should reach for. Reading it is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for the trials to come as you move towards your goal of releasing a quality product that you can be proud of.

An informed and informative understanding of the problems and issues often confronted in computer or

System Testing With An Attitude: An Approach That Nurture Front-Loaded Software Quality by international software testing consultant Nathan Petschenik offers an informed and informative understanding of the problems and issues often confronted in computer oriented careers. Providing its readers with an invaluable approach to the proper application of system testing and developer-led testing, understanding the software's user, reduction of system-test costs, and increase of productivity by methodical technique and tool utilization, management of the "end game" of software developmental effectiveness, and institution of comprehensive measurement programming, System Testing With An Attitude is a superbly presented, "user-friendly" collection of accessibly helpful, usefully practical, readily applicable information. System Testing With An Attitude is very highly recommended to all readers with an interest in computer and software sciences, particularly career choice advisors in the field of computer repair and maintenance.

A "Must Have" for the System Test Engineer

I just finished Nathan Petschenik's book; this has got to be one of the best books on System Testing that's available for those of us in the game of Formal System Testing. I'd rank this book "up there" with Rex Black's "Critical Testing Processes", Lee Copeland's "A Practitioner's Guide to Test Design", Rick Craig's "Systematic Software Testing", Lisa Crispin's "Testing Extreme Programming, and William Perry's "Effective Methods of System Testing". (With tongue firmly in cheek, I shouldn't forget to mention my own book, Rodger Drabick's "Best Practices for the Formal Software Testing Process".) Buy this book (or get your management to buy it for you), and put it on your bookshelf with the other books I've referenced. Nathan provides a succinct goal for us; "prevent serious defects from reaching the customer." He provides a number of excellent suggestions on what System Test Engineers should do, and suggestions on how to do those things. I especially liked his sections on Establishing System Testing Methodologies, Techniques, and Tools, and Executing System Tests while Influencing Project Behavior. Nathan starts his book off with a bang, providing a brief "Test on System Testing". Give it to your management staff, and see what the results look like. In chapter 2, he provides a very top-level model of system testing, and refreshes our memory with the classical V-diagram. In Chapter 3, he provides a discussion of "exhaustive" versus "thorough" versus "practical" testing, that covers many points test engineers need to understand. The "practical" point is especially significant, since most project managers understand the terms "exhaustive" and "thorough", but don't understand how we as test engineers need to get to a "practical" set of tests to execute. Nathan uses a simple but revealing case study to illustrate his perspective. In Chapter 4, Nathan raises the question which we've all discussed and pondered, "Is the System Tester's Role to Help Developers Complete Their Testing?" If you've spent as many years in system test as I have, you'll enjoy both the answer and the thoughts that go along with the answer. Chapter 5 points out something that all of us who've ever worked on "enhancements" or replacement systems understand; users DON'T like surprises. While this is not news to the experienced system test engineer, again the discussion is lively and valuable. In Chapter 6, "The System Test Oracle", Nathan stresses how important having expected results is, and shows us ways to get those results. In Chapter 7, the author discusses the impact of changes on the System Test team. This chapter is especially worth reading, and raises some points I'd never thought about. In Chapter 8, he discusses Implementation Mistakes versus Symptoms. Chapter 9 provides a summary of the System Testing Issues he's raised to this point. Chapter 10 begins the "solutions" portion of the text, where Nathan maps the issues to possible solutions for us. In Chapter 11, he p

Practical! Intelligent & Revolutionary

An exceptionally well-written book that explores concepts of system testing and goes on to present a philosophy that can be readily applied on any software project. The author begins with the basics and presents solutions,techniques and tools that encompass this universe - in short a methodology that has not been presented before in the manner in which it is presented here.What sets this book apart is the author's free use of examples,tables and diagrams that eases the understanding of the material.A handy reference for experts and a classic for the rest.