Book Review: Debug It!

This book provides a structured approach that will help programmers to identify and remove bugs in code. It is based on a four steps process: Reproduce, Diagnose, Fix, Reflect. For each activity, the author provides practical material on how perform it. The second part gives a higher vision of the debugging process and deal with topics like communicating with users or prioritizing bugs treatment. Finally, the book discusses special situations and the relationship between bugs and other areas of software development (source control, build, etc.).

The book is easy to read and the material is presented in a very structured way with different “viewpoints” that help to understand the content. Besides the main text where important concepts are put in evidence, real life cases shows how things happen in the real world. There are also some “Joe asks…” sections where the author answer pertinent questions on the current topic.

With my many years of experience in supporting and debugging large existing enterprise systems, I have to say that Paul Butcher summarize and structure all the knowledge (and more) that I have, sometimes painfully, accumulated during this activity. This is therefore an excellent book that I will recommend to everybody that is involved in software development in general and maintenance activities specifically.

Reference: “Debug It!”, Paul Butcher, Pragmatic Bookshelf, 214 pages, ISBN 978-1934356289

Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.com
Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.co.uk

Web Performance Testing - Test objectives and Real Life Monitoring

Web Performance Testing is executed to provide accurate information on the readiness of an application through testing the web site and monitoring the server side application. This article describes different techniques and aspects to be considered when performing Performance Testing on Web Applications.

http://www.sqazone.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=551

New Software Testing and Quality Assurance Videos and Tutorials Directory

Testing TV is a directory of software testing and software quality assurance videos and tutorials. It covers unit testing, functional testing, load testing, performance testing, test driven development. configuration management.

Functional Test Tools: Adopted but not Used?

A recent Methods & Tools poll tried to evaluate the usage of tools to automate execution of functional software tests. A similar poll was conducted in 2005.

My organisation has no tool for functional software tests.......37% (38%)
My organisation has tools, but my project or I do not use them..19% (26%)
I use tools for functional tests................................44% (36%)

Source: Methods & Tools
Particpants: 268 (147)
End date: August 2009 (August 2005)

There is an improvement of tool usage since 2005, but the results seem still to show an ambiguous situation to me: 63 % of companies have functional software tools, but 56% of participants don't use any tool for functional testing.

How To Recruit, Motivate, and Energize Superior Test Engineers

This video is an interesting presentation with eight points explaining why test is a better place for software developers than software development and showing how and when to express these points to hire, motivate and retain top talent.

Implementing Automated Testing by Elfriede Dustin, Thom Garrett & Bernie Gauf

This book presents a comprehensive treatement of the domain of software testing automation. The first part defines and describes test automation, proposing a business case for automation and discussing the pitfalls that should be avoided. The second part is a roadmap for test automation. It gives six keys for software testing automation payoff:
1. Know your requriments
2. Develop a strategy
3. Test your tools
4. Track progress and adjust
5. Implement the process
6. Put the right people in the process.
Four appendixes complete the book. They provide a process checklist, explain how automation applies to various testing types, disscuss tools evaluation and give a case study.

The fact that the autors have worked with the Defence industry might have affected the way the book was conceived and written: with structure and rigor. The discussions, recommandations, references and tools suggestions apply however to every software testing situation and not only to organization that are strongly process oriented. The aim of the book is to be a guide that can help to implement successfully automated software testing and it certainly achieve its objective.

Reference: “Implementing Automated Testing”, Elfriede Dustin, Thom Garrett & Bernie Gauf, Addison Wesley.

Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.com
Get more details on this book or buy it on amazon.co.uk

Applying User Testing During Development

This presentation focus on the relationship between Production, Game Design, and User Research (Usability). What it takes to prepare game builds for User Research, what the goals are for the usability test, and what Production and Design do with the results. Halo3 will serve as the primary example.