The Certified Software Quality Engineer Handbook

Book Description

This handbook contains information and guidance that supports all of the topics of the ASQ Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) Body of Knowledge (BoK). Armed with the knowledge presented in this handbook to compliment the required years of actual work experience, qualified software quality practitioners may feel confident they have taken appropriate steps in preparation for the CSQE exam. This invaluable handbook also goes well beyond being simply an exam preparation guide. It is designed to be a resource not only for software quality engineers, but also for software development practitioners, project managers, organizational managers, other quality practitioners, and other professionals who need to understand the aspects of software quality that impact their work.

It can also be used by readers to benchmark their (or their organization s) understanding and application of software quality principles and practices against what is considered a cross-industry good practice baseline. New software quality engineers can use this handbook to gain an understanding of their chosen profession, while experienced software quality engineers can use this handbook as a reference when performing their daily work. Trainers and educators can use the book to help propagate software quality engineering knowledge to future software practitioners and managers. Among all its varied audiences, this handbook will establish a common vocabulary to communicate about software and quality, thus increasing the professionalism of the industry and eliminating the wastes that can result from ambiguity and misunderstandings.

About the Author

Linda Westfall is the President of The Westfall Team, which provides Software Engineering, Software Quality Engineering and Software Project Management training and consulting services. Prior to starting her own business, Linda was the Senior Manager of Quality Metrics and Analysis at DSC Communications where her team designed and implemented a corporate wide metrics program. Linda has more than thirty years of experience in real time software engineering, quality and metrics. She has worked as a Software Engineer, Systems Analyst, Software Process Engineer and Manager of Production Software.

Very active professionally, Linda Westfall is a past chair of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) Software Division. She has also served as the Software Division's Program Chair and Certification Chair and on the ASQ National Certification Board. Linda is a past-chair of the Association for Software Engineering Excellence (ASEE) and chaired several conference program committees.

Linda and her husband enjoy building fireworks -- starting from mixing the powders and rolling the stars, through constructing the shells and rockets, to lighting the fuses and watching the effects. They are active members of the Pyrotechnics Guild International (PGI) and the Florida Pyrotechnic Arts Guild (FPAG). In fact, Linda won 1st place in the Level-3 Rocket competition at this year's PGI's conference (2009).

Linda Westfall has an MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas and BS in Mathematics from Carnegie-Mellon University. She has her Professional Engineer (P.E.) license in software engineering from the State of Texas. Linda is an ASQ Fellow, Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE), Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) and Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (CMQ/OE). Linda is also a Certified Scrum Master, an International Software Testing Qualification Board (ISTQB) Certified Tester and has her certification in Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundations.

Customer Reviews

What an amazing, comprehensive guide and preparation for the ASQ CSQE examination! This vast compilation of topics and techniques is simply fantastic. After three separate, intensive readings and much study of the book, the magnitude of topics and details that the book provides still surprises me.

Furthermore, the writing is so accurate and clear. Having read many other books on business process management and software development, this book surpasses others via the clear, understandable presentation of diverse topics. In regard to succinctness, nearly every word provided value and education.

Even with 20 years of software and project management experience, I gained NEW significant insights into:

• a) creating quality plans,
• b) understanding the criticality of requirements engineering and management,
• c) understanding software metrics (KLOC, function points, and complexity),
• d) planning and designing test plans (especially coverage strategies),
• e) seeing the importance of reviews and inspections, and
• f) understanding the protection of software configuration management.

Without knowing the author or the Westfall Consulting team, this book prepared me to pass CSQE examination by the American Society for Quality in October 2012.

I will value this book in my collection and professional career for years to come.

This book is well organized and really helped prepare for the CSQE examination and as a great reference during the test.