Better Software Magazine Articles

Session-Based Test Management: A Strategy for Structuring Exploratory Testing

Unlike traditional scripted testing, exploratory testing is an ad hoc process. Everything we do is optimized to find bugs fast, so we continually adjust our plans to refocus on the most promising risk areas; we follow hunches; we minimize the time spent on documentation. That leaves us with some problems. For one thing, keeping track of each tester’s progress can be like herding snakes into a burlap bag. Every day I need to know what we tested, what we found, and what our priorities are for further testing.

James Bach's picture James Bach
Testing Web-based Applications

To be most effective in analyzing and reproducing errors in a Web environment, you need to have a command over the operating environment. You also need to understand how environment-specific variables may affect your ability to replicate errors. With the application of some of the skills covered in this article, your Web testing experience should be less frustrating and more enjoyable.

Hung Nguyen
On-Track Requirements: How to Evaluate Requirements for Testability

Prior to using the requirements to develop the Test Plan, an analysis should be performed to evaluate the testability of the requirements. This article suggests a proven method used on a recent project that accomplishes such an evaluation.

Rodger Drabick
Testing in the Dark

How can you test software without knowing what it should do? Here is a step-by-step approach to overcoming undocumented requirements, including how to discover the requirements, how to define "quality" for the project, and how to create a test plan including release criteria.

The Test Matrix: How to Keep a Complex Test Project on Track

When testing needs to account for different user environments and installation configurations, the possible combinations can add up quickly. Read how one company used a simple data organization method to keep everything on track.

Mark Pawson
Achieving eBusiness Quality by Design

Testing can identify software defects, but it cannot prevent them. This presentation examines the opportunity for testers to engage in achieving eBusiness quality from the beginning of the development lifecycle. Architectural process and application of patterns can have a significant impact on eBusiness quality. Yet testing technology and testers' efforts have largely focused in the opposite direction-on deriving tests from the "as-built" system. Learn how to architect testable Web applications and develop test designs and test in parallel with the design and development of your Web-based application.

Sam Guckenheimer, Rational Software Corporation
An Execution Framework for Java Test Automation

This presentation introduces the Java Execution Framework, describing test suites, test cases, and the JEF test harness.

Erick Griffin, Tivoli Systems Inc.
Automating Test Design

The goals of this presentation are to: Redefine the term "path"; Introduce four value selection paradigms; Discuss strengths & weaknesses of each; Examine how value selection relates to automated test design capability; and Examine how test requirements identification relates to each paradigm.

Steve Morton, Applied Dynamics International
Scripts on My Tool Belt

The aims of this presentation are to: convince you that "test automation" is more than automating test execution; show some examples of the kinds of things that can be accomplished with scripting languages, using simplified code samples; and make you aware of three different scripting languages (shells, perl, and expect).

Danny Faught, Tejas Software Consulting
The Dangers of Use Cases Employed as Test Cases

Use cases are a great way to organize and document a software system's functionality from the user's perspective. However, they have limited uses for testers. They are great vehicles to accomplish some tasks, and not so great for others. Understand what you're trying to accomplish by testing before deciding if use cases can help-and be cognizant of the challenges they present. They are useful to testers, but not for every situation.

Bernie Berger, Test Assured, Inc.

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