STAREAST 2008 - Software Testing Conference

PRESENTATIONS

Test Cases as Executable Specifications

While testing major architectural changes to a legacy product, it became clear to Andy and Ronelle's team that without a close association between test cases and application requirements there was no assurance that these requirement were met. They detail the processes, tools, and workflows their team developed to produce high quality, searchable, well documented test suites that provided direct transfer of testing requirements from developers to test engineers.

Ronelle Landy, The Mathworks Inc.
Test Design for Complex System Testing

While functional testing generally focuses on specific areas of a single component, system testing focuses on multiple components and interactions within their environment. As software becomes more distributed and their topologies become more complex, these interactions require testers to apply additional skills in test design and execution. Mark Duquette offers an overview of system testing for those who are experienced in functional testing and are looking for more information about complex system testing.

Mark Duquette, IBM
Test Estimation: Simple Models and Practical Lessons

As software testers, we are regularly asked how long it will take to test a system. Unfortunately, we rarely have the tools to produce an accurate estimate. Tonnvane Wiswell introduces methods for producing better estimates-best guess, experienced person's best guess, and ways to use past data as a baseline--and the advantages and disadvantages of each. She discusses adaptable formulas that incorporate "buffer time" and risk factors.

TONNVANE WISWELL, Total Jobs Group
Test Strategies for the Modern Distributed World

Enterprise application development is quickly evolving with SOA and Web 2.0 taking center stage. Organizational structures are changing, with growing numbers of testing teams employing offshore resources. What do these changes mean to you, and what should you do to prepare? Most testing groups were created based on traditional development processes, traditional application architectures, and traditional organizational structures. As agile enters the mainstream, more change is on the way.

Dan Koloski, Empirix
Testing Dialogues - In the Executive Suite

As Microsoft’s only dual-role security and reliability architect, James Whittaker is often asked to brief company executives on product quality disasters and recommend remedies. With billion dollar warranty write-offs at stake, such counsel is often sought, but the answers those executives receive are rarely what they expect. James tells them that the ecosystem is sick.

James Whittaker, Microsoft

Testing Disasters and Turnarounds

It's good to learn from your own mistakes, but even better to learn from the mistakes of others. Randy Rice presents case studies of testing projects that have gone horribly wrong and reveals the one characteristic they all have in common. Although many of these projects ultimately ended in failure, Randy presents examples where mid-course corrective actions were very successful.

Randy Rice, Rice Consulting Services Inc

Testing Lessons Learned from Extreme Programmers

One of the things testers often notice about Extreme Programming (XP) is that there is no defined role for testers on the team. Yet XP teams describe themselves as "test infected." They practice Test-Driven Development (TDD), writing executable unit tests before writing the code to be tested. Many teams practice Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD), writing executable acceptance tests before implementing a feature. They use continuous integration to give them rapid feedback about the effects of changes.

Elisabeth Hendrickson, Quality Tree Software, Inc.

Testing Lessons Learned from Extreme Programmers

One of the things testers often notice about Extreme Programming (XP) is that there is no defined role for testers on the team. Yet XP teams describe themselves as “test infected.” They practice Test-Driven Development (TDD), writing executable unit tests before writing the code...

Elisabeth Hendrickson, Quality Tree Software

Testing on the Toilet: Revolutionizing Developer Testing at Google

You work in an organization with incredibly smart and diligent software engineers. Deadlines are tight and everyone is busy. But when developers outnumber testers by ten to one and the code base is growing exponentially, how do you continue to produce a quality product on time? Google addressed these problems by creating the Testing Grouplet-a group of volunteer engineers who dedicate their spare time to testing evangelism. They tried various ideas for reaching their audience. Weekly beer bashes were fun but too inefficient.

Bharat Mediratta, Google, Inc.
Testing SOA Applications: A Guide for Functional Testers

Functional testers assigned to their first SOA application can easily be caught off guard by some of the challenges posed by the SOA architecture. Testing without a user interface, the importance of security and performance, and the heavy emphasis on negative testing all require testers to approach SOA applications with new tools, techniques, and a different attitude. Through practical demonstrations of open source and commercial tools, Brian Bryson demonstrates techniques to test SOA applications.

Brian Bryson, IBM Rational

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