When you see something that bugs you about an application, can you easily convince someone else that the defect really is a problem? Michael Kelly teaches a quick lesson in expressing yourself persuasively with a HICCUPP....   Read Article.

For a conventional software tester, an Extreme Programming project may be an intimidating challenge. Testers often find that they're not welcome on XP projects, but Jonathan Kohl shares how skilled testing can overcome such difficulties. Jonathan discusses lessons he learned from working on two different XP project teams, only one of which initially...   Read Article.

With the dynamic nature of today's modern software and systems development practices, it is no longer possible to gather a complete set of requirements specifications upfront and set them in stone for the duration of the entire project. A far superior approach, which more accurately reflects the development process, is to allow requirements specifications...   Read Article.

Software quality assurance is a planned and systematic approach necessary to provide adequate confidence that an item or product conforms to established standards, procedures, and policies. This paper addresses the quality assurance practices that were employed in the organization to assure "quality" of software product development. It describes the...   Read Article.

Test assessments are a powerful way to understand the current status of your testing. These assessments provide an independent view of where you are and they guide you to where you’re going. They also highlight what your team needs to do to reach its testing goals. From her experiences performing test assessments, Sigrid Eldh covers all aspects of her...   Read Article.

QA automated test development is a software development process although it is seldom treated that way. Following software development practices can make the difference between the success and failure of an automated testing project. One of the most important aspects of any automated test design is the ability to share and reuse code. A well thought...   Read Article.

A user manual forms the first point of reference for a software customer. Here are some pointers on gauging the effectiveness and usability of a digital manual....   Read Article.

The paper describes how an organization plans and executes training to ensure the best possible use of resources to meet organizational objectives. There is a discussion of common problems, and measures to avoid or correct those problems. While the focus of the paper is achieving compliance with the CMM Training KPA, its content is relevant to any organization...   Read Article.

Choosing effective tests for complex logical expressions can be difficult. This paper describes a black box strategy for choosing such tests. The strategy is shown to be a natural generalization of current methods for choosing tests for simpler expressions. The strategy chooses combinations that are not only effective at revealing implementation defects...   Read Article.

The Scrum methodology can pose a challenge for software testers who are used to more traditional waterfall-inspired development processes. Jonathan Kohl relates his experiences working on Scrum teams who found some clear advantages in changing their methods....   Read Article.

Michael Kelly reports on handy security uses for four open source tools: WebGoat, Firefox Web Developer, WebScarab, and Ethereal. By combining the tools in easy ways, testers can track down and close the gaping security holes that are often left in applications....   Read Article.

After many years of helping businesses automate their testing, Elfriede Dustin has some useful lessons to share....   Read Article.

Automated testing expert Elfriede Dustin explains how a good automated testing plan can help you save time, effort, and money....   Read Article.

Does your test team implement new tools without developing a testing strategy first? Bad idea, says automated testing expert Elfriede Dustin....   Read Article.

Testing object-oriented software is different from testing procedural software. This introduction to the book, The Practical Guide to Testing Object-Oriented Software, explains the authors' philosophies behind object-oriented software testing....   Read Article.

All successful software organizations use measurement as part of their day-to-day management and technical activities. This chapter from Practical Software Measurement explains the importance of measurement practices....   Read Article.

Instilling a software review program into an organization requires an understanding of that organization's culture and the values its members hold. Karl Wiegers shows you how to understand your team culture and gives you some guiding principles for doing ......   Read Article.

We all have to face the fact that some software stinks; it doesn't work right or it just plain feels wrong. Fixing these problems is simple, but may not be easy. We have to understand the nature of software development and make sure that we allow ourselves enough time to do a good job....   Read Article.

Learn the components of a quality use case, when and why to use cases, and how to write a use case using Patterns.nn...   Read Article.

Although there are numerous metrics for software testing, and new ones being proposed frequently, relatively few are supported by sufficient experiences of industry implementation to demonstrate their usefulness. In this chapter from his book, Stephen Kan provides a detailed discussion of some tried and true in-process metrics from the testing perspective....   Read Article.