This book will teach you how to test computer software under real-world conditions. The authors have all been test managers and software development managers at well-known Silicon Valley software companies. Successful consumer software companies have learned how to produce high-quality products under tight time and budget constraints.

Preface xiii Notes on the book’s structure and layout xvii Acknowledgments xxi SECTION 1—FUNDAMENTALS 1. An example test series 1 The first cycle of testing 1 The second cycle of testing 11 What will happen in later cycles of testing 16 2. The objectives and limits of testing 17 You can’t test a program completely 17 The tester’s objective: Program verification? 23 So, why test? 25 3. Test types and their place in the software development process 27 Overview of the software development stages 30 Planning stages 32 Testing during the planning stages 33 Design stages 35 Testing during the design stages 39 Glass box code testing is part of the coding stage 41 Regression testing 49 Black box testing 50 Maintenance 57 4. Software errors 59 Quality 59 What is a software error? 60 Categories of software errors 60 5. Reporting and analyzing bugs 65 Write Problem Reports immediately 66 Content of the Problem Report 66 Characteristics of the Problem Report 74 Analysis of a reproducible bug 76 Tactics for analyzing a reproducible bug 79 Making a bug reproducible 82 SECTION 2—SPECIFIC TESTING SKILLS 6. The problem tracking system 87 The prime objective of a problem tracking system 90 The tasks of the system 90 Problem tracking overview 90 The users of the tracking system 97 Mechanics of the database 106 Further thoughts on problem reporting 115 Glossary 121 7. Test case design 123 Characteristics of a good test 124 Equivalence classes and boundary values 125 Visible state transitions 132 Race conditions and other time dependencies 133 Load testing 134 Error guessing 135 Function equivalence testing: automation, sensitivity analysis & random input 135 Regression testing: checking whether a bug fix worked 139 Regression testing: the standard battery of tests 140 Executing the tests 141 8. Testing printers (and other devices) 143 Some general issues in configuration testing 144 Printer testing 146 9. Localization testing 169 Was the base code changed? 170 Work with someone fluent in the language 170 Is the text independent from the code? 171 Translated text expands 171 Character sets 171 Keyboards 172 Text filters 172 Loading, saving, importing, and exporting high and low ASCII 173 Operating system language 173 Hot keys 173 Garbled in translation 173 Error message identifiers 174 Hyphenation rules 174 Spelling rules 174 Sorting rules 174 Uppercase and lowercase conversion 174 Underscoring rules 174 Printers 175 Sizes of paper 175 CPU’s and video 175 Rodents 175 Data formats and setup options 175 Rulers and measurements 176 Culture-bound graphics 176 Culture-bound output 176 European product compatibility 176 Memory availability 176 Do GUIs solve the problem? 177 Automated testing 177 10. Testing user manuals 179 Effective documentation 179 The documentation tester’s objectives 180 How testing documentation contributes to software reliability 181 Become the technical editor 182 Working with the manual through its development stages 183 Online help 188 11. Testing tools 189 Fundamental tools 189 Automated acceptance and regression tests 191 Standards 197 Translucent-box testing 200 12. Test planning and test documentation 203 The overall objective of the test plan: product or tool? 204 Detailed objectives of test planning and documentation 205 What types of tests to cover in test planning documents 210 A strategy for developing components of test planning documents 213 Components of test planning documents 217 Documenting test materials 242 A closing thought 253 SECTION 3—MANAGING TESTING PROJECTS AND GROUPS 13. Tying it together 255 Software development tradeoffs 257 Software development models 258 Quality-related costs 264 The development time line 266 Product design 267 Fragments coded: first functionality 274 Almost alpha 275 Alpha 277 Pre-beta 286 Beta 286 User interface (UI) freeze 293 Pre-final 295 Final integrity testing 299 Release 301 Project post-mortems 301 14. Legal consequences of defective software 303 Breach of contract 305 Torts: lawsuits involving fault 317 Whistle blowing 340 15. Managing a testing group 343 Managing a testing group 344 The role of the testing group 345 A test group is not an unmixed blessing 349 An alternative? Independent test agencies 350 Scheduling tips 352 Your staff 359 Appendix: common software errors 363 User interface errors 375 Error handling 396 Boundary-related errors 399 Calculation errors 401 Initial and later states 403 Control flow' errors 406 Errors in handling or interpreting data 416 Race conditions 421 Load conditions 423 Hardware 427 Source, version, and ID control 430 Testing errors 432 References 437 Index 451 About the Authors 480

This book will teach you how to test computer software under real-world conditions. The authors have all been test managers and software development managers at well-known Silicon Valley software companies. Successful consumer software companies have learned how to produce high-quality products under tight time and budget constraints. The book explains the testing side of that success. Who this book is for: * Testers and Test Managers * Project Managers-Understand the timeline, depth of investigation, and quality of communication to hold testers accountable for. * Programmers-Gain insight into the sources of errors in your code, understand what tests your work will have to pass, and why testers do the things they do. * Students-Train for an entry-level position in software development. What you will learn: * How to find important bugs quickly * How to describe software errors clearly * How to create a testing plan with a minimum of paperwork * How to design and use a bug-tracking system * Where testing fits in the product development process * How to test products that will be translated into other languages * How to test for compatibility with devices, such as printers * What laws apply to software quality

"I enjoyed reading Testing computer software. The text contains numerous highlights Offering practical advice, authoritative figures you can cite to customers and higher management, and entertaining anecdotes to share with coworkers Although some sections need updating, I still think it is a valuable training and reference source for software testers, managers, and developers." --Diomidis Spinellis; IEEE software magazine (May /June 2001)) "Deep insight and a great deal of experience is contained in this book" (Database & Network Journal, Vol 30/5 2000)

FUNDAMENTALS. An Example Test Series. The Objectives and Limits of Testing. Test Types and their Place in the Software Development Process. Software Errors. Reporting and Analyzing Bugs. SPECIFIC TESTING SKILLS. The Problem Tracking System. Test Case Design. Testing Printers (and other devices). Localization Testing. Testing User Manuals. Testing Tools. Test Planning and Test Documentation. MANAGING TESTING PROJECTS AND GROUPS. Tying it Together. Legal Consequences of Defective Software. Managing a Testing Group. Appendix. References. Index. About the Authors.