Software Testing: A Craftsman's Approach

by Paul C. Jorgensen

Publisher: Auerbach Publications
ISBN: 1466560681

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Book Description

This updated and reorganized fourth edition of Software Testing: A Craftsman's Approach applies the strong mathematics content of previous editions to a coherent treatment of Model-Based Testing for both code-based (structural) and specification-based (functional) testing. These techniques are extended from the usual unit testing discussions to full coverage of less understood levels integration and system testing.

The Fourth Edition:

• Emphasizes technical inspections and is supplemented by an appendix with a full package of documents required for a sample Use Case technical inspection
• Introduces an innovative approach that merges the Event-Driven Petri Nets from the earlier editions with the "Swim Lane" concept from the Unified Modeling Language (UML) that permits model-based testing for four levels of interaction among constituents in a System of Systems
• Introduces model-based development and provides an explanation of how to conduct testing within model-based development environments
• Presents a new section on methods for testing software in an Agile programming environment
• Explores test-driven development, reexamines all-pairs testing, and explains the four contexts of software testing

Thoroughly revised and updated, Software Testing: A Craftsman’s Approach, Fourth Edition is sure to become a standard reference for those who need to stay up to date with evolving technologies in software testing. Carrying on the tradition of previous editions, it will continue to serve as a valuable reference for software testers, developers, and engineers.

Customer Reviews

Books on software testing fall into two basic categories: (1) those that deal with the test process and (2) those that deal with the actual techniques. Most of the more recent books fall into the first category; although there is some degree of crossover in many of the books. This book, however, deals strictly with techniques. The author doesn't dwell on the process or the associated administrative tasks, although he does touch upon them.

Techniques are presented within the context of formal mathematics. This isn't because the material is academic - it's all based on realistic testing scenarios - but, instead, provides you with proven and effective techniques for testing software in a systematic manner. Because many testers have not been exposed to the formal techniques and underlying math, the first section covers the basics: discrete math, set theory and graph theory. Once you've mastered the basics, which are heavily used in the chapters that address the actual techniques, you'll have all the knowledge that you need to go forward.

The remainder of the book is divided into four sections, each of which covers a specific type of testing. These types are: functional, structural, integration and system, and object-oriented testing. For each there are two to three techniques, plus a retrospective on the section that ties everything together. Also, issues and factors associated with each test type, as well as testing in the whole are discussed, giving you a complete picture of the full suite of testing categories.

Overall, this book is well written and illustrated, but requires effort to get through. This isn't a criticism of the author, who did an outstanding job of conveying information and clearly explaining complex concepts and topics, but reflects the depth of the material. In my opinion a copy of this book should be among the top five in any serious software test professional's library.

"Software Testing: A Craftsman's Approach" is one of the those rare books that has taken on the problems of the Verification Engineer. As all of us know, most books written today are targeted for the development audience and even many of these are either poorly written or try to cover too much area. This book however, though broad in its scope, does a good job of treating all of the important areas in verification and testing.

You will find the book well structured, informative and actually intuitive to navigate through. Each chapter builds on the previous chapters to provide the engineer with a clear idea of all the steps and intricacies involved in testing and verifying complex programs. It can therefore be used by the beginner as a source book for specific test applications, or by the team lead or manager who needs to know more about the actual scope and planning of a complex testing project. This book surely fills a great void in the area of publications software verification.