jking@muddcs.UUCP (John King) (11/25/85)
I am looking for information on the software testing process. Of
particular interest to me are:
- Currently existing automated software testing tools.
- Books on software testing.
- Ideas about the testing process, it's relationship to the
software life cycle, and what parts of it can be automated.
- The possiblity of a net.testing group for discussions of this
very important part of the computer world.
Thanks in advance for any info.
-- John King
dsl@lzaz.UUCP (D.S.LERNER) (01/07/86)
In article <333@muddcs.UUCP>, jking@muddcs.UUCP (John King) writes: > > I am looking for information on the software testing process. Of > particular interest to me are: > > - Currently existing automated software testing tools. > - Books on software testing. > - Ideas about the testing process, it's relationship to the > software life cycle, and what parts of it can be automated. > - The possiblity of a net.testing group for discussions of this > very important part of the computer world. > > Thanks in advance for any info. > > -- John King > Like I said, the book by William Hetzel, The Complete Guide to Software Testing is a good start to learn about quality assurance methods. I have been in this field now for over four years. It is a new and exciting part of the computer industry. I currently test a large telecommunication project for AT&T Information Systems. The automation tool TPNS, an IBM network simulator, is handy for testing a sample action/response format on multiple stations. Testing is a subject that many people do not know about. Yet, it is a proven fact that bugs in software cost many time as much to fix in the field installation phase as in the development phase. Unfortunately, testing is not taught at most colleges nor encouraged in most development areas of business. You might want to consider taking a course entitled "Testing Computer Software". It is a vendor course given around the country by DPMA Education Foundation. Its instructors, David Gelperin and Bill Hetzel are very, very knowledgable. There is also a Testing Manager's Workshop which is a very intense workshop for experienced testers. Dr. Gelperin is the chairman of a task group that developed ANSI/IEEE standards for software test documentation. Finally, testing is in a phase in the computer industry as programming was twenty years ago. It is just beginning to come into importance in the industry. Testing is commonly referred as "quality assurance". You will see ads for QA people in most trade publications and contracting firms. People with yrs. of experience and the right background will be in "HIGH" demand in the next few years. Especially in the year 2000, when everyone's code will bounce out when the first two digits aren't "19" anymore. Some people claim it is a boring and uncreative task. I find it very interesting in that it is like playing detective. You must find the offendor, or in this case the bad code or wrong documentation. REMEMBER SOFTWARE ROTS "Testing is making sure that a program does what it is supposed to do" David Lerner
hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) (01/09/86)
In article <470@lzaz.UUCP> dsl@lzaz.UUCP (D.S.LERNER) writes: >"Testing is making sure that a program does what it is supposed to do" I was taught that the purpose of testing is to find bugs in software. Non- trivial code is, by definition, too complex to be proven 100% bug-free. Therefore you can't make "...sure that a program does what it is supposed to do.". You can only find and fix as many bugs as you can and hope there aren't too many more. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp(+)TTI 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Geniuses are people so lazy they Santa Monica, CA 90405 do everything right the first time. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe