The Latest
Laws of Testability[presentation] This presentation explains the four "laws" of testability: test automation isn't possible without some level of testability; test automation is most successful when developers focus on providing testability; there is no clear distinction betw |
Bret Pettichord, Pettichord Consulting
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Testing from Use Cases Using Path Analysis Technique[presentation] Use cases are an industry-standard method of specifying user interaction with the system, and hence have become part of the requirements definition phase of many software projects. |
Naresh Ahlowalia, Object System Group
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STARWEST 2002: How to Break Software Security[presentation] This presentation addresses classifying, finding, and attacking software security vulnerabilities. |
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Keeping Your Outsourced Testing Under Control[presentation] As companies focus on their core business, the option to outsource software testing becomes more and more attractive. And there are plenty of organizations out there that specialize in the practice. |
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Preventing Web Service Security Breaches with Unit Testing[article] As Web services increase in complexity and connectivity, security is growing as a major concern. Many security breaches have been the result of poorly tested software that allows unexpected inputs to pass and weaken security measures. Such inputs can create conditions in which intruders can obtain access to parts of the system that would otherwise be secure. One effective way for development teams to prevent unexpected inputs is to perform thorough white-box testing at the unit level. Unlike specification testing (which tests that code behaves as it was intended), white-box testing checks for the conditions and inputs that are not expected, thereby enabling developers to more thoroughly test for what they cannot foresee. By performing such testing at the unit level, developers can quickly and easily identify and correct any weaknesses before security breaches have the opportunity to occur. |
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What Does Your Title Say About Your Job?[article] "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." True, sloppy naming schemes may be all right in some cases. But as Johanna Rothman explains in this column, when software professionals are looking for a job, hiring, or negotiating work assignments, it's crucial for their job titles to accurately portray the work they do. Read on to see if you agree with the definitions Johanna assigns to the more common QA-related job titles. |
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The Missing Link[article] The testing environment of many corporations is all too often composed of young employees thrust into the technical world fresh out of college. They are eager and completely overwhelmed with their new environment. Managers are called upon to teach these employees the ways of their company testing. The result is predictable. Managers with limited skills wind up with a work group that reflects these limitations. Even skilled managers with seasoned workers are facing significant problems. It is estimated that over eighty-five percent of all IT projects are delayed or delivered without meeting the predefined specifications by those authorizing the work. In addition, managers do not typically receive training in newer management methodologies such as project management. One organization that faced just such a dilemma was Software Engineering Services, Worldwide Revenue Capture Systems, Information Technology Division within Federal Express Services. Over a period of eighteen months, this department went from not meeting project load dates to an organization that delivered software on-time with fewer software defects. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a blueprint for other organizations looking to reengineer their testing processes based on this experience. |
Karol Vastrick
November 15, 2002 |
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Improvement Is a Journey[article] So, you want to improve the quality of the testing done by your organization? The test quality improvement journey has several aspects to consider: the identification of improvement actions, which improvement action to start with and how to continue to improve. This document focuses on those improvement actions and ways to implement and improve on an existing set of good practices. |
Karen Rosengren
November 15, 2002 |
Managing Distributed Software Development[article] Distributed development teams are becoming the norm for today's software projects. In lieu of close physical interaction, distributed teams are faced with the challenge of keeping software projects on track and keeping remote developers involved. This article provides some suggestions for keeping distributed software teams in touch and on target. |
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Surviving the Witch Hunt[magazine] A witch hunt is the search for whoever let those darned bugs out into the field. How do you stop a witch hunt? The best way is to refocus attention from "someone to blame" to "something to fix." If you focus on what in the process is causing the defects and discuss how to minimize or even eliminate the causes, you have a real chance to turn things around. |
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Salary Survey 2002: Are You Weathering the Storm?[magazine] The results of the third annual STQE magazine/StickyMinds.com salary survey give the temperature of the testing industry. Thanks to our readers' continued participation, we now have three years' worth of data and the ability to start looking for trends. |
Anne Meilof
October 18, 2002 |
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A Look at TeamTrack by TeamShare[magazine] David Lee's company needed a system to track customer support and development issues—one that had the right combination of tools and the scalability they needed to effectively address their customer needs, as well as their own internal requirements. Here is a discussion of why they chose Team Track, and an evaluation of the tool. |
David S. Lee
October 18, 2002 |
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How to Avoid Adaptive Testing Syndrome[magazine] Adaptive Testing Syndrome happens when, for various reasons, test team members become blind to the idiosyncrasies of the software and even accept them as a normal part of the design. However, when a different tester, or maybe just a different set of tests, comes in contact with the software, the bugs become painfully obvious. Here's how to diagnose and avoid ATS. |
Paul Sixt
October 18, 2002 |
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Karl Wiegers on Software Inspections and Peer Reviews[magazine] Peer reviews and inspections are among the highest-leverage software quality practices available. Here are some useful sources of guidance on how to perform software inspections and peer reviews, as well as some tools and online resources that can help you jump-start your fledgling review program. |
Karl E. Wiegers
October 18, 2002 |
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XP, Iterative Development, and the Testing Community[article] A recent StickyMinds column criticized the new Agile development methods as bad for business. The column generated many reader comments, and prompted this response from industry veteran Cem Kaner. Read on for his defense of iterative approaches. |
Cem Kaner
October 18, 2002 |