Seminars On Software Testing

Seminars on Software Testing Here, you find information about the seminars I can offer. Contact me at [email protected]. Testing is the last step in the software life cycle. Time pressure is well known and increasing because too many defects are found late and have to be repaired. This seminar shows you how to cope with this situation. Early test planning and the use of reviews achieve a high degree of preventive defect removal. Still, at the end you have to execute the tests, in order to measure the final product quality. The ultimate aim, however, is that defects show up during test preparation rather than test execution. These seminars show you “state of best industry practice” testing. You can use the techniques right away, and even when you use only part of the techniques, you will feel the improvement. You also get an overview of the latest testing tools, which may help you make test work proceed smoother and cheaper. Seminar 1 (1 or 2 days) Methods for test design Seminar 2 (2 days) Integration, system and acceptance testing Seminar 3 (1 or 2 days) Managing, organizing and optimizing testing, controlling risks Seminar 4: Risk based testing Seminar 5: Advanced and special test methods Seminar 6: Acceptance testing and supplier follow-up Seminar 7: (1 or 2 days) Testing real time and embedded systems Finally, I am able to offer ISTQB Foundation Level seminars. See www.istqb.org for details. (In Norwegian see www.dataforeningen.no/istqb/ ).

In seminar 1, you will learn: The basic methods for all test design: how to test data variation, logic and data flows. You also learn about start and exit criteria and test coverage. In the two day version, it is augmented by discussions how to test program modules and integrate them. This seminar is useful for ANYBODY working with testing, and, in addition, programmers.

In seminar 2, you will learn: How to integrate software How to test functions in system and acceptance testing How to test interactions between functions How to test nonfunctional characteristics (performance etc.) in system and acceptance testing How to build up a maintainable test system However, the details of how to design the actual test cases are topic of seminar 1.

In seminar 3, you will learn: The basic ideas of modern software testing. How you can describe testing to other involved people. How software testing should be organized to be as effectively as possible. How to monitor test progress and manage testing resources and schedules. Start and exit criteria How to interpret test results, and be sure about your release decisions. What kind of technology is available to increase testing efficiency and effectiveness. How to use defect data to improve your testing and other software work processes. How to tailor the general model to your own needs.

In seminar 4, you will learn: What is risk and how can risk be used in testing The basics of risk management for projects Test prioritization using risk Managing risks in the test project itself Statistical usage profile based testing Risk and test coverage Risk and corrections and changes

In seminar 5, you will learn: How to choose the right test technique, dependent on the character of the program under test. How to cope with complex logic. How to test object oriented programs. How to optimize testing by statistical reliability modeling. How to maintain automated test suites. How to test real time embedded software What test research is doing.

Seminar 6: Background o

To put new software systems into service is often a frustrating experience. Important functions may not exist, performance may be low and general system quality lousy. Or it might even be the wrong system and solve your problems. The system may be hard to use and documentation may be bad or non-existing. There are few ways out of this misery once it has happened. Still, it is possible to prevent this. The method is called customer involvement and systematic acceptance testing.

The contents

o

The seminar shows you what an acceptance test consists of, and how you plan and execute it, and how you follow up your supplier during the whole development project, not only at the end. The basis is your needs, and maybe a product specification. You will learn how to systematically cover every important aspect of the software with test cases. You will see how test preparation reveals wrong, missing or unclear requirements and thus prevents problems. You learn the basic principles of test management, i.e. you learn how to interpret error data to predict product performance after acceptance.

Audience o Software Users and Customers, Quality Assurance Personnel, Software Testers, Project Managers.

Seminar 7: "Testing embedded systems" This seminar covers the special, additional requirements for testing real time embedded systems. Normal testing practice is NOT covered here. Such systems are ridden by a whole lot of extra problems, in addition to the normal software problems which testing must address. There are memory and resource corruption, race conditions, deadlocks, live locks, timeouts, interrupts, scheduling and the generally difficult access to the system under test. This seminar focuses on the special problems encountered here and ways to deal with them. The topics discussed here are not normally part of any testing seminars. We hope you will be an active participant. The seminars have time for discussion and questions and answers. We would like you to prepare questions on What would you like to know about testing Where do you think you should organize testing better.

There are more topics I can cover, but not part of the "standard" seminars.

Contents of the seminars Seminar 1: Methods for designing test cases 1. Introduction to testing What is testing? Terminology Conflicting goals V-model, test phases, different models Black Box versus white box testing, reviews, static analysis as methods 2. The work process Making a test plan Detailed analysis of specifications and design Design of the test Making test data and environment Running the test, checking coverage, regression testing Evaluation and exit from testing 3. General test case design techniques Black box test White box test´ Statistical and random test Data variation test State transition test Logic test Data flow test Event based test Transaction flow test 4. Other techniques than testing Code review Making checklists Static analysis Use of assertions Extreme programming and testing 5. Testing algorithmic programs Detailed analysis of input and output data Class partition Test design (class combination or not, test data bases) Test case design, including boundary value analysis Every step with an exercise 6. Testing state machines Presentation of a state machine Typical defects

Checking the specification with exercise How to make a test with exercise Issues of controllability and observability What is not covered by this testing? 7. Testing data flows, integration Analysis of specification Making data flow test cases Exercise for data flow test cases 8. Issues in test running Checking coverage Exercise in analyzing test coverage Rerunning tests and automation How to automate a test Reference to local tools (if I get your input) 9. Summary Issues that came up Priorities In a two-day version, the following extra topics may be included: 1. Testing object oriented software 2. Testing real time software 3. Formal entry and exit criteria 4. Use of automated tools to generate test environments There will be several exercises during this seminar.

Seminar 2: Integration, system and acceptance testing 1.

Introduction to higher-level test What should be achieved? Test model Typical trouble

2.

The general methods for black-box test design Function based testing Data based testing Data flow based testing State based testing

Event based testing Coverage based testing Random testing 3.

Integration test How to find and integration order What to test, what not to test Test case design What to do if there is trouble Issues with respect to change control Coverage criteria

4.

Test of real time programs (optional)

5.

Functional system test Testing end user functions Creating scenarios Test data selection

6.

Function interaction testing Interaction between functions executed after each other Interaction between parallel functions Test design

7.

Nonfunctional testing Testing installation, configuration, conversion and compatibility Testing performance, stress, and volume Testing reliability Testing usability Testing security Testing other attributes

8.

How to verify that changes and error corrections work - regression testing Retesting during maintenance and after error repair Maintaining tests Automating tests

9.

Acceptance testing Customer supplier interaction The process

10.

Testware architecture for manual and automated testing

11.

Test automation tools

Seminar 3: Managing, organizing and optimizing testing 1. The basic ideas of defect removal. Introduction, basic facts, terminology, test model 2.

Strategic planning of the defect removal project

3.

Defect data collection How to use defect data in order to improve your way to develop systems Root cause analysis

4.

How to be sure the product is reliable enough - start and exit criteria for testing

5.

How to manage testing - Some metrics and their use

6. Testware architecture and test documentation. How to keep order in your test material. How to tailor the new IEEE 829 standard for test documentation 7.

Testing technology - software tools for test automation

8.

Specifying and preparing the test environment

9.

Start and exit criteria

10.

How to do risk management as well as risk and profit based testing: prioritizing

11.

Test Process Improvement. The TPI model. How to introduce better testing methods in your group

Seminar 4: Risk based testing How to fight product risk How to manage a test project under pressure 1. What is risk 2. How to manage risk: The risk management life cycle o Risk identification o Risk analysis o Risk mitigation o Risk follow up o Risk based replanning o 3. How to identify risk in software project: Main risks and possible reactions o Cost

o Scope and Quality o Time o Resources 4. Risk based testing: How to prioritize based on product risk o Overall priority scheme o Factors determining damage o Factors determining probability o The difficulty to find faults o A simple method to determine and calculate risk o Selection of test methods and coverage according to risk o How to do the risk based testing if you know little or nothing 5. Project risk management in test projects: Risks before, during and after the test 6. Optimizing testing using reliability engineering - Fault density and failure rate predictions - Statistical usage testing - How to do this - Problems 7. Test coverage and risk 8. Changes and corrections and risk in test 9. Summary, References

Seminar 5: Advanced and special test methods 1.

An overview of the advanced methods and their practical applicability

2.

Methods for testing logical combinations Cause effect graphing Minimizing logical combinations Dependency Island method Category partition method Classification tree method Meaningful impact strategy Pair wise combination testing

3.

Test of object oriented programs Class testing Integration along inheritance structures Integration along object use Questions of Retesting

4.

Testing for very high reliability or safety Mutation testing

5.

Reliability engineering and statistical test

6. Testing real time and embedded programs (this in itself can be presented as a one day tutorial) 7.

How to design maintainable automated test suites

Seminar 6: Planning and Managing Acceptance Testing  1. Introduction: Basic principles for software development and test The objective of testing How testing fits into development The different types of testing and what kinds of problems they should find The need for testing even after the first release 2. The customer’s role in software development How projects run wrong How the customer is turned into a hostage How to prevent being hostage of the project Following up the supplier’s test efforts Preparing acceptance tests 3. Risk based test planning: How to prioritize what to test Why and how to use risk to control testing Factors that determine how much damage some feature may cause Factors that determine the probability of trouble How to use a spreadsheet to control your testing 4. The types of testing that should be done Testing product functions. Testing business flows (“soap opera test”). Testing product properties (performance, security, …) 5. Detailed test work: How to make test cases and data The most primitive method: One right, one wrong Systematic methods for input checking: Equivalence Class Partition - Boundary value analysis Method for business logic: Condition tables Method for business flows: State transition testing Other test methods

Exercises 6. How to check that your test is good enough, how to check supplier test Coverage criteria and their limits What you ever wanted to ask your supplier about his test 7. How to interpret test results Problem statistics Exit criteria 8. Testing later What about maintenance? How to assure that defect correction and changes don’t introduce side-effects How to put together a regression test How the supplier may help you 9. Putting together it all A step-by-step procedure for the whole test. 10. Discussion, Summary

Seminar 7: Testing embedded and real time systems 1. Introduction * What are embedded systems? * The modified V-model * Types of testing 2. The special problems with embedded systems and how to test for them * Many problems are hard to find by testing, and prevention would be much better. However, testing methods can be described or tailored. Race conditions Data corruption Timing Deadlocks Priority Rounding problems Long term problems Hardware related problems Etc. 3. Testing state machines

Many embedded systems employ state machines. This is why reviewing state machine models and testing state machines is especially important * How to review state machine models * How to test them * Some tools 4. Discussion, Summary

Other topics not covered in the general seminar material, but  possible to include in in­house seminars - Test Process Improvement - Combining testing and inspections, how inspections can save time and budget - Evaluation of software to be bought - Web application testing - Usability testing - How to recruit test people and how to keep them - Defect and failure statistics and learning from defects - Checking your supplier's test - Test Documentation (IEEE Standard 829) And there is more. Please ask! Contact me at [email protected]. Back to my homepage