Another question I was asked via e-mail. "Do you know of any good
books that explain the testing process in detail? I noticed you
mentioned Debugging Applications for .Net and Windows, but I am looking
for a book that really explains the basics of 'I have this
API/application and I want to test it'. "
Let
me say up front that I’m not a big fan of testing books. Most of what
they say is obvious and they are often long-winded. You can learn to
test more quickly by doing than by reading. Unlike programming, the
barrier to entry is low and exploration is the best teacher. That said,
Cem Kaner’s Testing Computer Software gets a lot of good
marks. I’m not a huge fan of it (perahps I'll blog on my disagreements
later) but if you want to speak the language of the testing world, this
is probably the book to read. Managing the Testing Process by
Rex Black gives a good overview of the testing process from a management
perspective. Most testing books are very process-intensive. They
teach process over technique. How to Break Software by James
Whittaker is more practical. I have read some of the book and have
heard James Whittaker speak. As the title indicates, the intent of the
book is to explain where software is most vulnerable and the techniques
it takes to break it at those points.
Part of the
difficulty with testing books is that there are so many kinds of
testing. Testing a web service is fundamentally different than testing a
GUI application like Microsoft Word which is again wholly different
than testing a multimedia API like DirectShow. Approaches to testing
differ also. Some people have a lot of manual tests. Some automate
everything with testing tools like SilkRunner or Visual Test. Others
write code by hand to accomplish their testing. The latter is what my
team does. Most books on testing will either distill this down to the
basics--at which time you have no real meat left--or they will teach you
a little about everything and not much about anything. Read the 3
books I call out above but make sure to adapt everything they say to
your specific situation. Treat them as food for though, not instruction
manuals.
Do you have a favorite testing book that I haven't mentioned? Share your knowledge with others in the comments.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/steverowe/archive/2005/02/24/recommended-books-on-testing.aspx
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