Conference Presentations

A Formula for Test Automation Success: Finding the Right Mix of Skill Sets and Tools

Not sure what elements to consider now that you're ready to embark on the mission of automating your testing? This session explores the possibilities-the key mix of skill sets, processes, and tools-that can make or break any automation effort. The instructor shows you how to develop an informed set of priorities that can make all the difference in your effort's success, and help you avoid project failure.

  • Create better, more reusable tests to improve efficiency and effectiveness
  • Increase the value and reputation of QA within your organization
  • Establish a closer relationship with developers based on mutual respect
Gerd Weishaar, IBM Rational software
Fault Injection to Stress Test Windows Applications

Testing an application's robustness and tolerance for failures in its natural environment can be difficult or impossible. Developers and testers buy tool suites to simulate load, write programs that fill memory, and create large files on disk, all to determine the behavior of their application under test in a hostile and unpredictable environment. Herbert Thompson describes and demonstrates new, cutting edge methods for simulating stress that are more efficient and reliable than current industry practices. Using Windows Media Player and Winamp as examples, he demonstrates how new methods of fault injection can be used to simulate stress on Windows applications.

  • Runtime fault injection as a testing and assessment tool
  • Cutting edge stress-testing techniques
  • An in-depth case study on runtime fault injection
Herbert Thompson, Security Innovation
Testing Web Services Interoperability

If your development organization is developing Web services because you want independence across languages and platforms, you'll need to undertake serious interoperability testing. John Scarborough explains the problem by creating a matrix of interoperability issues and explores possible testing strategies you might use. He also takes a sober look at what we may not be able to tackle with existing testing technology. Find out about SOAP monitoring and other approaches to interoperability testing. Take away a new understanding of how the desire for interoperability can open up opportunities for hackers and the likelihood of security breaches.

  • The matrix for interoperability testing of Web services
  • Web services testing experiences from both small and large companies
  • The need for designing interoperability testing into the software from the beginning
John Scarborough, Disha Technologies Inc.
Testing "Best Practices": From Microsoft's Context to Yours

Testing is a never-ending series of trade-off decisions, what to test and what not to test; when to stop testing and release the product; how to budget your testing resources for automated vs. manual testing; how much code coverage is good enough; and much more. To make these difficult judgement calls, we often turn to the "best practices" recommended by testing experts and others who have encountered similar problems. The key to successful implementation is matching their "best practices" to your own context (team make-up, company culture, market
environment, etc.). Barry Preppernau shares his insights gathered from over 20 years of testing experience at Microsoft. You'll learn about the tools and processes that have been successful within Microsoft and ways for you to identify, adapt, and implement successful test improvement
initiatives within your organization.

Barry Preppernau, Microsoft Corporation
Becoming a Trusted Advisor to Senior Management

How can Test Managers present information about test results so that the correct message is received by decision-makers? Testing generates a huge amount of raw data, which must be analyzed, processed, summarized, and presented to management so the best decisions can be made quickly. Lloyd Roden shares his experiences as a test manager and as a consultant about communicating with and disseminating information to various levels of senior management. Develop your skills to become a "trusted advisor" to senior management rather than the "bearer of bad news". Find out innovative ways to keep the information flowing to and from management and avoid losing control of the test process, particularly near the delivery date. Learn the seven monitoring techniques Lloyd recommends for reporting on different aspects of the system under test.

Lloyd Roden, Grove Consultants
Compressing Test Execution Time to a 24-Hour Cycle

Software development projects face a growing trend of tighter schedules, more complex environments, and increased time-to-market pressures. Thomas Poirier presents a composite case study that explores how frequently encountered situations can severely impact the duration of the Test Execution Cycle (TEC). Learn strategies and tactics to shorten the TEC to within a 24-hour cycle without sacrificing test coverage.

Thomas Poirier, Conduciv inc.
STARWEST 1999: Testing and Test Automation: Establishing Effective Architectures

This presentation provides a practical guide for addressing three essential testing challenges: how to design and document a highly inspectable test suite; how to effectively architect an automated regression test library; and how to integrate test design and automation technology using Action Words. In this double-track session, Ed Kit and Hans Buwalda provide examples, case studies, and demonstrations to illustrate a proven test automation architecture. Learn of the common automation problems and how to overcome them. Discover how to create a process for test design that supports effective test automation.

Edward Kit and Hans Buwalda, Software Development Technologies
Software Inspection: Taking a Step Forward to Completion

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Neela Majumder, Intel Corporation
Exploiting a Broken Design Process

A major flaw in the way most code is designed allows you to break the code by exploiting the flaw. Learn how this "trick" can force software into a state from which it produces incorrect results. Observe live demonstrations on applying this "trick" to popular software programs and code. Discuss ways to build test automation that methodically searches for these flaws.

James Whittaker, Florida Tech, Computer Science
Database Design for Test Information Management

Every test organization must report its findings in a concise, timely, and comprehensive way. Using a relational database to manage test information can dramatically reduce the cost and effort of such reporting. Learn the pitfalls to avoid when designing a test information database. Examine a concrete example of good test database design that you can apply immediately.

Stephen Liss, Motorola

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