Managing the Testing Process
Author: Rex Black
Publisher : Microsoft Press, 1999 381 pages
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This book has been categorised as "Best Practices" by the publisher, and this is certainly the case. If you manage a testing organisation, team, project or are a tester who wants to manage the testing process, this book is for you. This book is aimed at test managers and test project managers.
'Managing the Testing Process' covers topics such as requirements extraction, test planning, defect tracking, test tracking, resource management and organisational issues. The topics are presented in a logical manner and cover the main title of the book adequately.
The author has a great wealth of experience and has shared his insight in a practical manner by the use of spreadsheets, which will fast become valuable tools in your test Management arsenal. He shows you how to break this enormous beast down into smaller manageable chunks.
I especially enjoyed his techniques for testing requirements management and testing progress tracking. Rex Black has made it look so easy, which it is!
The book does not dwell on official definitions and processes, but gives a practical 'hands on' approach. The book is easy to read, but covers all topics in sufficient detail. This is one I will keep on my bookshelf. Enjoy a good insightful read.
Peter Sage
What do other reviewers say?
The irony is that we have two opposite opinions amongst the reviewers. The are no "middle of the road" opinions amongst the reviewers. They either love it or hate it, but it has to be added that those who favour the book, do outnumber the other reviewers.
One reviewer found the accompaning CD disappointing to the point of stating that he would have held the book in higher regard if no CD had been included. Another reviewer who gave this book a very good rating also felt that the CD could have been more robust.
Other reviewers found the templates useful. Mostly, this book does carry a high recommendation.