| Feature Articles - newest to oldest | ||
|---|---|---|
| Article Name | Information | Issue |
| Regression Testing: Information Technology’s Best Kept Secret | Wayne Mallinson expounds on the “how”, “what” and “why” of regression testing. | Volume 11, Number 3, 3rd Quarter 2010 |
| Good Enough V&V for Simulations: Some Possibly Helpful Thoughts from the Law & Ethics of Commercial Software | Article written by Cem Kaner and Stephen J. Swenson The feature article will not be made available on our website for this edition. |
Volume 11, Number 2, 2nd Quarter 2010 |
| Testing and Quality Suppliers | We are sometimes told that, “quality is in the eye of the beholder” and if this is the case, then many attributes of a product might please that eye. Statements like, “the product is safe” imply security testing and backup and recovery testing, while “the product is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use ” imply usability testing “. All of these quality aspects and more are validated by
software testing. |
Volume 11, Number 1, 1st Quarter 2010 |
| Testing from the Customer’s perspective… | The customer’s requirement is for a test team that costs next to nothing whilst managing comprehensively to test every aspect of the system in no time. - Article written by Dave Shaw |
Volume 10, Number 4, 4th Quarter 2009 |
Test Planning in Agile and Traditional Software Development Life Cycles |
This article seeks to apply test planning to both Agile and Traditional Software Development Life Cycles (SDLCs). It is written while bearing the IEEE Standard for Software and System Test Documentation (IEEE Std 829™-2008) in mind as it applies to test planning. - Article written by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 10, Number 3, 3rd Quarter 2009 |
| Professionalism in IT and Testing | That wonderful resource, Wikipedia says, “A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain.” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, professions involve the application of specialised knowledge of a subject, field, or science to fee-paying clientele. - Article written by Adrian Schofield |
Volume 10, Number 2, 2nd Quarter 2009 |
| Lean Software Production | Lean production will put your company into the most successful configuration for riding out the current economic downturn. Prepare your people and organisation for robust business growth derived from increased capability and responsiveness in the coming upturn. |
Volume 10 Number 1, 1st Quarter 2009 |
| Success with open source test tools at iBurst one of South Africa’s Internet Service Providers | A friend of mine took up a position as lead tester at iBurst a while ago. There were no formal test tools in place. I suggested a tool for test management and one for defect tracking. - Article written by Quinton Schorr and Walter Kruse |
Volume 9, Number 4, 4th Quarter 2008 |
| Software Testing Triage | Here is a scenario all testers are familiar with. A lot of work has been done to move the organisation’s thinking from traditional waterfall thinking to more improved v-model thinking. Project managers engage with the test team, which has grown from 1 - 3 certified software testers. They see the value of testing and even devote time to testing in the project schedule. But they don’t inform the tester on time. If the project management methodology has 5 phases (initiate, define, design, develop, implement), the tester is notified at the end of the develop phase. |
Volume 9, Number 3, 3rd Quarter 2008 |
| Business Priorities VERSUS Software Application Quality OR Business Priorities AND Software Application Quality? | In the last few years the IT industry has undergone phenomenal change through the deployment of technology and process cultures to gain competitive advantage and market share for organisations. The organisation of the future will be required to create an IT environment which can adapt within expected timeframes at all levels of the organisation, in strategic direction, tactical deployment and operational capabilities. - Article written by Sarnell de Beer |
Volume 9, Number 2, 2nd Quarter 2008 |
| Testing Production Volumes | Where multiple teams are involved, new things must be motivated, synchronised, piloted, and rolled out to other teams upon success. A test manager on a small project isn’t necessarily prepared for managing numerous simultaneous projects where production volumes of testing are required. Testing does not scale linearly. With increasing production volumes, comes the requirement (and added benefits) of increased productivity. |
Volume 9, Number 1, 1st Quarter 2008 |
| Hiring for effective test teams | I had to put together a test team which made me think about the types of people required and their roles. It’s hard to judge how a candidate will behave in a team during an interview. In future, I will require candidates to take a test to gain insight into their personalities. - Article written by Walter Kruse |
Volume 8, Number 6, November/December 2007 |
Getting it Right |
Standards arise when groups recognise the benefits of doing things in ways developed over time. Often companies create standards as part of their working practices, impacting products or processes and provide the company that developed them with a commercial advantage. In business, the ‘good guys’ are not always incentivised to share better, safer practices, and it takes maturing of the industry to gather individuals to compile standards that could be used in the interest of the industry. |
Volume 8, Number 5, September/October 2007 |
| White Box Testing | With white box testing one looks into the box to see the code and its specific structure comprising designs, statements, comments, decisions and paths. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 8, Number 4, July/August 2007 |
| Reviews | Reviews are effective because they can be conducted early (most effective when conducted before coding starts), offer cost-effective testing and reducing project timescales. | Volume 8, Number 3, May/June 2007 |
| Creating and Maintaining a Testing Centre of Excellence | A testing centre of excellence must exist independently of projects. Projects are temporal and therefore would not be able to fully support or monitor a centre of testing excellence over time. The centre of testing excellence is an important support function to IT and business stakeholders and so should support these entities while being held accountable. Because system testing is necessarily independent, it acts as an ideal intermediary between the business and IT (whether or not company personnel provide the IT). |
Volume 8, Number 2, March/April 2007 |
Profit-based Testing: Software Testing’s Contribution to the Bottom Line |
Colleges, technicons, and universities do not generally teach software testing as part of Computer Science studies or as part of Information Systems curricula – and it shows! Other disciplines, be they old or very new such as engineering and biotechnology respectively, are far more scientific and measured in their approach to problems and solutions than IT as a discipline with its business analysts, software designers, programmers, testers, and managers. It is as if IT operates in a special dispensation that allows it to be sloppy. Business often pays for work estimates that have no real basis, and even then these are rarely met. If deadlines are met, this is often achieved by dropping a large percentage of the functions originally requested. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 8, Number 1, January/February 2007 |
| Test Strategy | The test strategy is a set of high-level approaches for testing in a company or a large division of a company. The test strategy is a means to achieve certain testing goals. A company’s testing policy will direct the testing strategy towards the broader testing goals of the company. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 7, Number 6, November/December 2006 |
| Testing in the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). | Software Testing Can Make a Big Difference in the SDLC. Software testing is a critical ingredient in software creation. When each project team member knows what testing to do and actually performs all relevant tests the results are always positive.Details of Software Testing Relating to Requirements.
|
Volume 7, Number 5, September/October 2006 |
| Proposed Career Model for South African Testing Professionals | Match individual qualifications, skills, experience, and responsibilities to job titles for testers
|
Volume 7, Number 4, July/August 2006 |
| Usability Myths Debunked | Usability must be the testing area that is the most misunderstood. This is not because it is rocket science; it is a problem of perceptions. There is an old joke that says the length of a minute depends on which side of the bathroom door you are on. This is so true for software development as well. The ease of use of the system depends on which side of developer’s door you are on. It is just plain and simple logic that if you were the one developing the system from scratch, you know it inside out. If you see the complete system for the first time as a user, you have a totally different perception of it. This is the reason why a lot of ICT people don’t understand why their systems may be unusable to others. This misconception very often leads to myths about usability and usability testing.
|
Volume 7, Number 3, May/June 2006 |
| Software Test Automation in the SDLC | Software test automation, in most cases, refers to the automated execution of some of the tests created to test the system under development. Test automation, in general terms, refers to the automation of any testing activity in the SDLC. For the purposes of this article we will specifically refer to the automated execution of a manual test, more specifically known as functional software test automation. |
Volume 7, Number 2, March/April 2006 |
| Did you count the red traffic lights? | I believe that managers very often feel like racehorses in their daily attempts to deliver projects on time, with the least possible incidents. It is just as challenging to be able to estimate the testing effort of a project as it is to get your children to school on time during peak hour traffic. The only difference is that if you know of all the factors that might influence your testing effort the test estimation is so much easier! - Article by Corné Kruger |
Volume 7, Number 1, January/February 2006 |
| Testing as a career - the dos and don'ts | When we decided to dedicate this edition of Test Focus to testing career development and training, my thoughts immediately turned to Johan Stander. I have yet to meet anyone who can honestly say they know more about testers than Johan. One of the reasons Johan is an expert when it comes to testers, and their careers, is that for the past 5 years he has interviewed almost a 1000 testers seeking employment. - Article by Antonet Bekker |
Volume 6, Number 6, November/December 2005. |
| Risk and Governance | Just as functional and non-functional requirements are difficult to solicit and test, so are Regulatory requirements. The difference is that - instead of just failing to deliver an important function, or having a server fail due to untested load issues - failure to comply with Regulatory requirements may lead to legal action or even worse, the loss of your business. - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume 6, Number 5, September/October 2005. |
| Best Practices in Software Test Automation | Discussed in this article are twelve of the most important practices that can assist you in ensuring successful implementation of functional test automation on your projects and in your organisation. - Article by Henk Coetzee |
Volume 6, Number 4, July/August 2005. |
|
Lean Testing: Highway to Software Engineering Operational Excellence Part I |
Lean testing results from consolidating seventeen years of my experience in software testing (working together with software engineers, developers, project managers, business managers, and customers of software development projects) into a profound framework of 14 management principles used by the Toyota Corporation, and documented by Jeffrey K. Liker in The Toyota Way. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 6, Number 3, May/June 2005. |
| EuroSTAR 2004 Conference Diary |
Three Test and Data Services employees (Rob, Ina and Alida) joined Wayne Mallinson (Test and Data Services' board chairman) in Cologne to make a South African presence felt at the EuroSTAR 2004
conference. This article diarises their experiences: both travel and conference-related. - Article by Rob Kerrich-Walker |
Volume 6, Number 2, March/April 2005. |
| The day I met ... Jakob Nielsen |
So what did I learn from attending the Nielsen Norman Group User Experience conference in Amsterdam? Well, let's see:
- Article by Antonet Bekker |
Volume 6, Number 1, January/February 2005. |
| CMMI® Level 2: Project Planning |
Project planning involves creating a testing project plan, communicating with the relevant
stakeholders with the aim of obtaining commitment to the plan, and concludes with the maintenance of the testing project plan. - Article by Mike Snyman |
Volume 5, Number 6, November/December 2004. |
| CMMI® Level 2: Project Planning |
Project planning involves creating a testing project plan, communicating with the relevant
stakeholders with the aim of obtaining commitment to the plan, and concludes with the maintenance of the testing project plan. - Article by Mike Snyman |
Volume 5, Number 6, November/December 2004. |
| CMMI® Maturity Level 2: Managed |
This article starts to discuss
Maturity Level 2 and its applicable process areas. - Article by Mike Snyman |
Volume 5, Number 5, September/October 2004. |
| How to Win Friends and Influence Developers |
I have this view of a battlefield; where testers assail
the bastions of the much beset developers. Unrealistic, you say? Aren't developers and testers at war? Are we not
attacking the developers' code with our barrage of tests and expecting that they will admit our supremacy when their
code is breached rendering their position (to our mind) indefensible? - Article by Natalie Stebbing |
Volume 5, Number 4, July/August 2004. |
| What is a Process? |
One of the many definitions describes a process as
follows: "A process is a set of practices performed to achieve a given purpose; it may include tools, methods,
materials, and/or people." - Article by Mike Snyman and Dhani Kowlaser |
Volume 5, Number 3, May/June 2004. |
| Let's Go Dutch |
What does it take to present an eight hour tutorial
on Usability to an audience at the EuroStar Testing Conference in Amsterdam? I thought knowledge of the subject and
lots of preparation would be enough. Little did I know that a lot of faith, nerves of steel and a tolerance for sleep
deprivation were also requirements. - Article by Antonet Bekker |
Volume 5, Number 2, March/April 2004. |
| Managing the Critical Path |
To immediately speak of the project Critical Path is like discussing
water-skiing techniques and assuming that you know everything about water-skiing, and are reasonably experienced.
The focus of this magazine is testing, whereas this topic relates more to Project Management. In order to benefit
as many readers as possible who may be testers or programmers, I will attempt to bring an understanding of what the
Critical Path is, and then establish the principle before applying it to projects. - Article by Richard Rose |
Volume 5, Number 1, January/February 2004. |
|
The Art of Trusted E-Commerce The problem is not inside … it's on top! |
How badly do your users want security?
The most troubling problem encountered while performing a network security audit is the lack of commitment
on the side of many users. - Article by Jan Holtzhausen |
Volume 4, Number 6, November/December 2003. |
| NIST Pickings |
This article introduces and discusses the National Institute of Standards
and Technology May 2002 report, "The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Infrastructure for Software Testing". - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 4, Number 5, September/October 2003. |
| Usability Testing: Recipe for Success |
It is 21h45 and I am tired. First of all, it took three attempts to get connected to the
Internet, with "Error 678" (probably some computer code for: "normal people are sleeping at this hour, please try again tomorrow")
popping up every time. - Article by Antonet Bekker |
Volume 4, Number 4, July/August 2003. |
| Software Quality Function Deployment (SQFD) |
Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
originated in Japan in 1966 when Yoji Akao introduced it there. It crossed to North
America in the early 1980s. QFD is a visual planning tool that supports concurrent engineering.
It provides a systematic, measured approach to determining what is of value to customers and how
customers perceive and rate important aspects of competing products. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 4, Number 3, May/June 2003. |
| Structured Unstructured Testing? |
For a long time, I have
been a firm supporter of structured testing. Yet lately, I have been asking
myself "what is structured testing?" I have been a bit surprised
at the answers I am getting back … - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume 4, Number 2, March/April 2003. |
| Test Automation Tool Selection |
The process of determining
which tool will best be suited to your needs is not an easy one. This
article is meant to provide some guidance to assist with this important
first step into the world of software test automation. - Article by Henk Coetzee |
Volume 4, Number 1, January/February 2003. |
| Common Mistakes in Test Automation |
Many organisations attempt
test automation without a clear understanding of all that is involved.
Many attempts have failed to achieve real or lasting benefits. This paper
highlights a few of the more common mistakes that have contributed
to these failures and offers some thoughts on how they may be avoided. - Article by Mark Fewster |
Volume 3, Number 11, November/December 2002. |
| Software Test Automation Life Cycle |
Today, software professionals
are faced with the challenge of constructing and building systems with
fewer resources in an ever-shrinking timeframe. Companies not only want
to test software adequately, but also as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
To accomplish this goal, organisations are turning to automated testing. - Article by Henk Coetzee |
Volume 3, Number 10, October 2002. |
|
Test Management by Metrics Efficiency 4 Managing your resources |
I have found that the effective
utilisation of resources (testers, tools, processes etc) is one of the
most exciting challenges on a testing project. - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume 3, Number 9, September 2002. |
|
Test Management by Metrics Effectiveness 3 Where are you finding the most faults? |
Apart from the fact that
you are finding and logging faults, do you know at what stage of the Software
Development Life Cycle (SDLC) you are finding them? Is it important to
know when you are finding them? If you are asking questions like these
then you are at the start of the road to making your testing effort more
effective. - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume 3, Number 8, August 2002. |
|
Test Management by Metrics Productivity 2 Measuring and Improving Your Testers’ Productivity |
Do you know if your testers
are producing the goods? How effective are they, really? How can you improve
their performance? - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume 3, Number 7, July 2002. |
|
Test Management by Metrics Productivity 1 Using S-Curves to take Corrective Action |
Have you ever asked one
of your testers what is the current status of their progress, and the
answer is 25% … or 50% … or 75%? You do not feel too comfortable with
the answer because that is exactly what it was yesterday! - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume 3, Number 6, June 2002. |
|
The
Application of Business Management Principles to Software Testing Part Three - Leading |
"It is often the best
artisans who are made supervisors. Yet it does not necessarily follow
that such people make good leaders. A mediocre worker with qualities of
leadership may well make a better supervisor than an excellent one who
lacks those qualities." - Article by Mike Snyman |
Volume 3, Number 5, May 2002. |
|
The
Application of Business Management Techniques to Software Testing Part 2 - Organising |
The role of planning in
the modern approach to managing a testing organisation was discussed in
a previous article, along with reasons why sound business management principles
are as valid to a testing organisation or department as to any other goal-driven
organisation. - Article by Mike Snyman |
Volume 3, Number 4, April 2002. |
| The
Application of Business Management Techniques to Software Testing |
Managing a large test team
in an integrated corporate environment is a demanding and challenging
undertaking. Test managers are increasingly required to use business management
techniques customised to deliver results in today's complex test environment.
- Article by Mike Snyman |
Volume 3, Number 3, March 2002. |
| Performance
Testing: Real-world experience |
Last year I assisted a client
with acceptance testing. By the time I was called in they were expressing
disappointment with the response speeds of the system that had been supplied
to them. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 3, Number 2, February 2002. |
| Testing: A Growing Opportunity |
The South African testing
market has reached a key point. Numerous corporates are experiencing the
need for testing services, and the demand for experienced testers is currently
exceeding the supply. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 3, Number 1, January 2002. |
|
The
Heart of a Tester’s Job Part 3 - Requirements Management |
The identified requirements
may now be sorted into functional areas and allocated to test procedures.
For example, in a project with incremental delivery, the login-logout
test may precede the cashbook test. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 12, December 2001. |
|
The
Heart of a Tester’s Job. Part 2- Requirements for Testing |
Last month we learned how
to identify and delineate requirements for testing in a specification.
By now creating a spreadsheet of the requirements to hold additional information
relevant to each requirement we develop a powerful testing planning, status
tracking and management tool. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 11, November 2001. |
|
The
Heart of a Tester’s Job. |
The heart of a testers job
is to take the specified requirements for a system and to ensure that
each and every requirement is delivered and is working correctly. To do
this, experienced testers use requirements management, a powerful testing
technique that is simple to learn and implement. |
Volume 2, Number 10, October 2001. |
|
Inspections:
Editing and Follow-up |
Inspections - Process Improvement
Meetings. Immediately after an Inspection meeting, the moderator may choose
to conduct a separate meeting, which deals with process improvement... - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 9, September 2001. |
|
Last month we discussed
private inspections and
mentioned the unusually slow reading rate required for effective defect
detection during inspections. We will now examine a case study that demonstrates
the economy of less haste and more speed. |
Volume 2, Number 8, August 2001. |
|
| The Kick-off Meeting and Private Inspection Process |
In
Test Focus last month we saw that the Inspection Moderator would use sampling
to ensure that minimum entry criteria for the product to be inspected
were met... - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 7, July2001. |
| Inspection Entry Criteria and Kick-Off Meeting |
Formalised Software
Inspections are massively parallel communication forums, which are highly
effective for defect detection, learning of best practices and supporting
an open, yet disciplined company culture. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 6, June2001. |
| The Most Powerful Lever in Testing |
Consider the description
of testing given by a Test Manager to a new appointee... - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 5, May 2001. |
| Budgeting for a Testing Methodology |
The quality of the software
deliverd for testing, can itself greatly influence the effectiveness of
a testing methodology. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 4, April 2001. |
| Raising
Expectations of Testing: Part 3 - Testers |
A
look at specific expectations of testers, principles and all. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 3, March 2001. |
| Designing for Usability | A
broad but useful overview of usability testing and design. - Article by Dave Benjamin |
Volume 2, Number 2, February 2001. |
| Raising Expectations Of Testing Part 2: The Business |
Our feature article
evolves around how we should be working to have good business productivity. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 2, Number 1, January 2001. |
| Testing For Software Reliability | This
article introduces different software testing techniques that have been
used to evaluate software reliability. - Article by Yinong Chen |
Volume
1, Number 6, December 2000. |
| Raising Expectations Of Testing Part 1 : Managers | A
general overview on expectations of testing. Also, questions for your SDLC.
- Article by: Wayne Mallinson |
Volume
1, Number 5, November 2000. |
| Regression Testing | This
article elaborates on regression
testing and why it is an asset to a company. - Article by Wayne Mallinson |
Volume 1,
Number 4, October 2000. |
| Shifting From Manual Testing To Test Automation | Peter
Sage explains the differences and usefulness of both manual and automated
testing, elaborating on four points that are imperative to the managers
perceptions. - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume 1,
Number 3, September 2000. |
| Testing As A Vocation | Our
feature article elaborates on opportunities in the software testing profession
and also testing as a necessity. The explanation of where testing is going
and what makes a good tester to the company's advantage and also to the
tester him/herself. - Article by: Wayne Mallinson |
Volume
1, Number 2, August 2000. |
| Testing Computer Software 17th International Conference & Exposition | This
article is a review of the 17th international conference in Washington DC
that was held on the 12th to 16th June 2000. - Article by Peter Sage |
Volume
1, Number 1, July 2000. |