Software Testing and Continuous Quality Improvement

After reading Software Test and Continual Process Improvement, I am impressed by the breadth and depth of William Lewis' test and quality process coverage. I recommend his book to anyone who is involved in the software development life cycle, including Project Managers, System Analysts, and IT Directors.Mr. Lewis' book is particularly relevant those of us who must reduce development costs while meeting our customers' maturing expectations. Times have changed; financial restrictions prevent using development resources to correct software defects. Initiating the prevention processes outlined in Software Test and Continual Process Improvement will boost project efficiency and product value.My suggestions for improvement: If Mr. Lewis left out the vendor references (in Sections IV and VI), then his book would be less vulnerable to obsolescence. More emphasis on how requirement and test management tools map to each other would strengthen the same sections.It's naive to assume that a book on software test and quality can describe all the components and nuances of thorough testing. Software Test and Continual Process Improvement comes closer than any other book I've read to describing effective end-to-end software quality interventions. It's the software test compendium to hold on to.

Mr. Lewis has written what I consider to be the definitive work on quality assurance and software testing. What sets this book apart from the wealth of excellent and not-so-excellent books on both quality assurance and testing is this one has a clearly defined framework, processes and procedures. The framework is based on the basic Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) paradigm from TQM. I personally use an almost identical paradigm called Entry Criteria-Task-Validation-Exit Criteria (ETVX), and have mentally changed every occurrence of PDCA to ETVX. The distinction between the two is important from a process point of view because clearly defined entry and exit criteria eliminate multiple inspections. But this is a fine point. The quality assurance framework in Section I covers all of the essential elements, including the differences between prevention and detection, verification vs. validation, testing vs. quality control, and configuration management. These distinctions, definitions and elements are the foundation of Mr. Lewis' approach. Section I also gives a good overview of testing techniques and the key ingredients of continuous quality improvement.Section II approaches testing from a life cycle perspective, clearly showing that testing starts with requirements, not after the product has been built. The verification checkpoints for each milestone are completely described. Section III addresses testing for client/server and internet projects, and is one of the most ion-depth treatments of methods and procedures I have come across. Moreover, it follows the PDCA cycle, which shows how theory can be put into practice. This is the heart of the book and is essential reading for anyone who needs to get up-to-speed on methods and techniques, as well as test managers who want to implement a coherent and workable process. Most of Section IV was weak because it was centered on tools. This information quickly becomes obsolete, and there is no web site associated with this specific book to provide up-to-date information. Since many publishers are augmenting their books with web sites I hope this is rectified in the near future for this book because tools are an important subject and not something that can be accurately described in a book given the publication lead times. However, the methodology for evaluating testing tools in this section is valuable and on the mark. Section V is where this book addresses the realities of software testing - testing in the maintenance environment. I personally liked this section of the book above all others because the author addresses all of the major issues faced by service delivery and support personnel, as well as the challenges this environment imposes on test professionals. This is one area that will benefit the most from the author's approach and is, unfortunately, the area that will be most difficult to employ the approach. The reason is each development (application delivery) project starts with a reasonab

This book should be titled "The Quality Assurance Bible". Whether you are a novice in field or a guru, this book contains a plethora of information that will contribute to your expertise. Most books are eight-tenths cut-and-paste of the standard dogma, with two tenths containing detailed substance. Mr. Lewis has written a book that raises the bar for other QA authors to beat. Also, an extremely detailed table of contents (almost tagging each page of the book) will handily aid quick access to desired information.Not only does Mr. Lewis expound upon the dynamic leading edge of the QA domain, he also provides concrete examples that support his summations. The specific information about the QA tools is accurate and at the same time unbiased. Real-world experience clearly defines his positions about software testing, lending infallible credence to the book. I have worked many years within the fields of development, testing, tools evaluation, and solutions. From my personal experience I consider the book very much in sync with applicability not only towards generic applications, but (more importantly) the leading technologies as well. Now, when testing is demanding new skill sets and new attitudes toward processes and implementations, this book should become required reading for QA professionals. Lastly, I encourage even those that have polarized their testing opinions to read this book. This book has become an invaluable addition to my library. [email protected]

Finally, someone has written a realistic book on software testing. Most testing books focus on testing techniques only. This book provides a comprehensive testing methodology for the RAD and traditional development environments and has been enormously helpful to me as the QA director or my organization. I would highly recommend this to any serious software testing analyst or manager.

This book is a must have for any software testing group. It gives you detailed step by step instructions on every aspect of the system test process. We are currently "revamping" our system test process and have found the templates and examples provided extremely helpful. Whether you are a test manager, tester, or automated test engineer, I think you will benefit greatly from this book.