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Tuesday
Morning Sessions (8:30 - 11:00 AM)
Cognitive Illusions in Testing and Development
Dorothy Graham
Concepts:
We are all familiar with optical illusions: we see something that turns out to be not as it
first appears. Isn’t it strange that
some part of our mind knows that another part of our mind is being deceived? However, we are subject to self-deception in
technical areas as well: these are cognitive
illusions. This presentation explores some of
the ways in which we deceive ourselves and why we do it.
Examples are taken from the way inspection is often practiced, testing
issues, attitudes toward complexity, and the way in which “groupthink” can
influence technical decisions. There are a
number of ways in which we “turn a blind eye” to issues which are vitally
important such as quality and planning. Addressing
these issues may help to explain why measurement programs often fail, why post-project
reviews are seldom done, what causes anxiety for developers, managers and testers, and how
to counteract a blame culture.
Biography:
Dorothy Graham
is the founder of Grove Consultants in the UK, which provides advice, training, and
inspiration in software testing, testing tools, and inspection. She is on the boards of conferences and journals
in software testing, and has been an active member of the British Computer Society’s
Specialist Interest Group in Software Testing since 1989.
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PSQT Track Presentations (Tuesday 10:00 -
11:00 a.m.)
Earning Management Respect for Quality and the
Value We Provide! Part I
Bill Hufschmidt
Concepts:
You think you do a good job. You
get good reviews. So why can’t you earn
the recognition and respect, for Yourself, and for Quality and Testing, that you know it
deserves?
Presentation Outline:
-Key Business Questions.
-Introduction of the 10 Dimensional Integrated Software Metrics
Model.
-Fastpath Sizing for people Who Hate Function Points.
-Quality and Costs report examples that are easy and get management
attention.
-True Customer Satisfaction.
-Establishing a Value Index.
Biography:
Bill Hufschmidt
and the Development Support Center, now in their 16th year, have assisted with
the implementation of measurement programs worldwide in over 250 companies and
organizations covering over a dozen industries. His
experience with the above metrics includes instances of proving multi-million
dollar savings. Bill helped establish IFPUG;
gave it its name; served multiple terms on the Board and is currently involved with
several committees. He has been a keynote or
featured speaker at PSQT/PSTT, SIM, QAI, ASM, IFPUG, GUIDE, SHARE, IASA, LOMA and other
Productivity, Quality and Measurement forums. Bill
holds a BA in Economics and has been named to Who’s Who in American Business.
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A Quality Assessment Process for
Products Under Development
Diane Manlove & Stephen Kan
Concepts:
Will your product satisfy customer quality expectations? Will it meet your product quality objectives? What are the key risks to your product's quality? These questions should be answered while the
product is under development and corrections can be applied, not after you ship. The authors have developed a methodology for
assessing the quality of a product under development and have used this methodology
successfully for many years and across numerous projects.
This discussion will address the steps required to prepare for a
'Quality Assessment', beginning with an examination of the process used to developed the
product and the information that is key to that process.
The incorporation of both quantitative and qualitative data will be
explained. The authors will include many
examples from their own experiences, which illustrate useful tools and practices. Particular attention will be given to the Quality
Assessment final deliverables: the overall
assessment rating, assessment summary, and assessment recommendations.
Biography:
Diane
Manlove is a Software Quality Engineer. Her responsibilities include the management of
release quality during product development, system quality improvement, and product
quality trend analysis and projections. In
her software development quality role, Ms. Manlove has routinely performed 6 Quality
Assessments each year for the last 5 years. Diane
is certified by the American Society for Quality as a Software Quality Engineer, a Quality
Manager, and a Reliability Engineer and by the Project Management Institute as a Project
Management Professional. She holds a Master's
degree in Reliability and an undergraduate degree in Engineering. Ms. Manlove has over 15 years corporate experience
and has additional experience in hardware and software test and in manufacturing quality.
Dr.
Stephen Kan
is a Senior Technical Staff Member and a technical manager in programming. He is responsible for the Quality Management
Process in software development for IBM’s eServer iSeries (formerly the AS/400
computer system). His responsibility covers
all aspects of quality ranging from quality goal setting, supplier quality requirements,
quality plans, in-process metrics and quality assessments, to reliability projections,
field quality tracking, and customer satisfaction. Dr.
Kan has been the software quality focal point for the software system of the AS/400 since
its initial release in 1988. He is the author
of the book Metrics and Models in Software Quality Engineering, numerous technical
reports, and articles and chapters in the IBM Systems Journal, Encyclopedia of Computer
Science and Technology, Encyclopedia of Microcomputers, and other professional journals. Dr. Kan is also a faculty member of the University
of Minnesota Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE) program.
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Integrating Configuration Management in
the Development Process
Torbjorn Fransson
Concepts:
Many
organizations today suffer from inefficient configuration management. It is a well-known
fact that lack of CM can create disasters, but it is seldom spoken about the problems that
can occur when you have a high quality CM process separated from the development process. Introducing a new CM process is more than
introducing a tool. It may require new methods and changes in more processes and routines
than are feasible to change at one single time. It will probably have great impact on the
current development process and tradeoffs will be necessary to achieve the right
performance. Implementing the CM system step
by step may be the solution, but in what order shall you take the steps? How do you handle
the mismatch between the old and the new systems?
This presentation will highlight some critical
design decisions in order to implement an integrated process that would reduce manual CM
activities to a minimum.
Presentation Outline:
· Description of some typical cases where CM is
treated as an “add on”
· Understanding the development process and
quality requirements
· Identifying bottlenecks and time thieves
· Setting the level of ambition
· How to identify tasks, roles and
configuration items
· What to think about when selecting tools
· Step by step introduction of new processes
and tools
· Summary, questions
Biography:
Mr. Torbjorn
Fransson is a senior software engineering consultant. His primary
responsibilities are software engineering and training new teams for CM and systems
engineering. He received the Master of
Science in Computer technology at the University of Linkoping Sweden and has been a
software developer and manager of quality and methods group for software engineering
responsible for development, deployment and maintenance of systems for software CM and
change management.
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Quality Process Implementations – Making
the Nice to Have a Reality
Peter R. Wismer
Concepts:
The purpose of this presentation is to review four
quality processes that have had success within software development arm. Too often, testing processes are honed, but
quality as a distinct discipline is ignored due to the perception of increased cost and
time: areas that cannot be afforded in today’s software development arena. This presentation introduces the concept of
regular Post Project Reviews, Internal Audits, a Process Effectiveness Tracking Database,
and a Process Effectiveness Advisory Committee, all of which have combined to decrease the
cost and time related to software development. Post
Project reviews have been instrumental in uncovering processes to be repeated and avoided
across project teams. Internal Audits review
the current state of a s/w development project and expose the holes that could lead to
poor quality or process problems. The Process
Effectiveness Tracking Database is a repository for process improvements that result from
Post Project Reviews, Internal Audits, associate ideas or customer feedback. The Advisory Committee is established as the core
team who reviews, prioritizes and implements new process or methodology improvements
loaded into the database in order to constantly refine and improve our methods.
Biography:
Peter
R. Wismer is an Information Technology professional with 10 years in
the IT industry. He has served in various
roles including business/product analysis, IT Manager, Consultant and Quality Assurance
Manager within the banking, financial, pharmaceutical and IT consulting industries and
currently serves as the Manager of Quality Assurance for a consulting and IT services
company for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
As manager, he has been on the forefront of developing, implementing and
refining these quality processes. Peter has
been involved in teams who have implemented and perform Post Project Reviews and Internal
Audits, was instrumental in the creation and ongoing development of the Process
Effectiveness Tracking Database and is the founder and facilitator of the Process Advisory
Committee. He has implemented similar
processes at companies which have him with insight into the keys to succeeding with the
implementations and the risks of failure.
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The Business Case for Test Automation
Linda Hayes
There has never been a more compelling time to automate software
testing. But for any tool purchase or project resource allocations, management
requires justification in terms of the expected return on investment (ROI). This
session describes how to identify the costs and benefits for calculating the ROI for test
automation, and how to avoid the unrealistic expectations that doom most automation
projects.
Linda Hayes is
an industry pioneer and leading expert in test automation. She publishes a monthly column
in Datamation on software quality, Quality Quest, is the author of the Automated Testing
Handbook and co-editor with Alka Jarvis of Dare to be Excellent. She is a widely published
author of award-winning articles and frequent speaker on testing and automation around the
world.
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PSQT
Featured Presentation (Tuesday 1:00 - 2:00 PM)
We Don’t Need Process
… Do We?
Judy Bamberger
Concepts:
In the current high-tech marketplace, it appears that anybody with a
good idea can earn a lot of money rapidly. With
a little blood, a lot of sweat and barrels of tears, we can make our million dollars and
retire. If that is all you want – to
earn a fast dollar and sell – then this talk is not for you. However, if you want your company to be vibrant
and exciting five and ten and 100 years from now; if you want your employees to have a
passion for their jobs – to come to work excited each day – to grow with your
company over time; if you want to provide products and services that make a difference to
your customers, that add value, that enable your customers to delight their customers; if
you want your company to be thought of and talked of well in the community; if you want to
look around at what you have started, and be able to smile and say “I helped that to
be” … then this talk might be appropriate for you.
Biography:
Judy Bamberger
is a consultant specializing in project management, software process definition and
improvement, quality techniques (e.g., formal inspections, metrics), leadership, team
building, facilitation, and managing change. Ms.
Bamberger is an Authorized Lead Assessor in the SEI CBA-IPI method and a key author of the
Capability Maturity Model for Software.
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PSTT Track Presentations (Tuesday 1:00 - 2:00 PM)
The Added
Value of Testing
Daniel Tour
Concepts:
How effective is the testing conducted in
your project or organization? What value does testing add to the overall software
development lifecycle? Is testing helping you to achieve your time-to-market and quality
goals? Are defects removed as early as possible in the lifecycle, with the minimum effort,
or is test execution a white-knuckle roller-coaster ride? Is management urging for testing
to be performed quicker, with better quality, on a reduced budget? Testing typically takes around 40% of the overall
software development effort, yet it is often conducted on a loose framework that
ultimately relies on the individual skill and dedication of the testers to succeed. A
mature testing lifecycle is based on sound fundamentals and principles, providing a firm
foundation for delivering value to the business through optimum effectiveness and
efficiency.
Presentation Outline:
This presentation describes the key components
of an effective and efficient testing lifecycle. It is based on experience in implementing
process improvement programs, and the audience will gain an understanding of -
· The areas to which an effective testing
lifecycle will deliver value to the business
· The fundamentals and principles of a mature
testing framework
· A model for understanding and assessing the
value of the foundation layers of the testing lifecycle
· Key testing metrics for measuring
effectiveness and efficiency
Biography:
Daniel Tour
is a technical consultant of 18 years IT experience who specializes in working with
organizations and projects to develop, implement and improve their testing lifecycle. He has developed and managed programs that have
achieved proven and sustainable results in the following areas -
· Minimizing lifecycle delivery times and
reducing time to market
· Improving the quality of software delivered
into production
· Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of
all levels of testing
· Detecting and removing defects early in the
SDLC
· Reducing the cost of rework and defect
resolution
· Increasing the level of competency and
productivity of testing practitioners
Daniel’s expertise includes -
· test strategy development
· test process re-engineering
· test methodology implementation
· test organisation re-structuring
· test tool evaluations.
Daniel is also an accomplished speaker and
presenter, and has authored and presented a one-day seminar entitled “Improving the
Testing Lifecycle”. His most recent engagements include the “Software Testing
Week”; a regular event in eastern Australia offering specialized courses on software
testing, and the inaugural ASIASTAR 2001 International Testing Conference.
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Traceability Issues in Testing: A Practical Solution
Ganesan Perumal
Concepts:
Every testing effort is directed at bringing quality to the product.
But this effort is, more often than not, consuming more resources and time. Apart from the
wastage of resources and time, the end product is not 100% quality assured. These are not statements of imagination and
exaggeration. They are widely experienced in
the industry. A recent statistics made out
at one of the international conferences on software testing indicated that only 26% of
projects are successful. In other words 74%
of projects fail because of lack of quality in them.
A proper analysis of the causes for failures will always point towards
haphazard testing.
A clear analysis of all the issues shows that we are not relating our
testing effort to two crucial segments of the overall project activity. We should be able
to trace every test case to the underlying system requirement and the business
requirement. As a first step, we need to create an inventory of testable items. Mapping
the testable items with the above two segments of the overall project activities will give
us a solid handle to manage our testing efforts. To be cost-effective and time-concerned,
we need to introduce the risk assessment to the testable items. Risk assessments are made
using two attributes, “Probability” and “Impact”. These two attributes
are assigned numeric weights as to make them measurable. Relate the testable items to the
testing objectives that are assigned numeric weights. Relate each testable item to one or
more test conditions. For each condition, design a test case. And to each defect that
might surface, relate the test case. Now we will have a comprehensive picture of what is
going on, where we are and how we can manage the scope change and what to skip if
exigencies do crop up.
Biography:
Ganesan Perumal
started his software career in the Indian Air Force (IAF), at Air Headquarters Computer
Center, New Delhi, India, as an Assistant Programmer. A six-year work experience in Main
Frame Systems gave him ample opportunities to learn the software development processes. He
undertook a variety of individual assignments that included independent projects on
different platforms. After 5 years of
independent work, Ganesan worked as Faculty for Main Frame subjects and became involved in
the testing arena. Initially as a Testing
Coordinator, he had the opportunity to lead the testing efforts of large projects
involving multi-million dollars. In his current position, he is able to suggest various
refinement processes in testing to our large client.
Ganesan has received master degrees in Commerce and Education and Post
Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications (PGDCA). He has attended a number of seminars on
testing related topics and has made presentations on Testing Processes and Web Testing.
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Web Performance Management Avoiding the
“Scramble”
Diane Hagglund
Concepts:
When customers complain about your Web application, does it take an
eternity to find the problem? When you have
multiple performance problems to resolve, is it difficult to prioritize them? Is your IT group left in “The Scramble”
to figure out where the problem in the infrastructure resides? This presentation will
explain these issues, discuss the reasons and causes behind them and and offer detailed
information on how to avoid them.
Presentation Outline:
1. Avoiding the Scramble
2. Infrastructure issues cause problems for everybody
3. Performance issues impact end-user experience
4. Current state of web performance
5. Business problems resulting from end-user issues
6. IT problems resulting from end-user issues
7. The "scramble"
8. Individual management "silos"
9. Enterprise systems management solutions
10. Component management tools
11. Application performance management
12. Performance data gathering
13. APM solutions
14. The most common problems
15. Conclusion
Biography:
Diane Hagglund
is Director of Product Marketing for Application Performance Monitoring solutions at a
world’s leading provider of Web performance management solutions. She has extensive
experience with Web performance in both pre-deployment testing, as well as monitoring
after a Web site goes live. Hagglund introduced Mercury Interactive's award-winning Java
testing products, launched the Astra family of downloadable Web testing tools, and managed
Mercury Interactive’s MSP services for hosted load testing and monitoring. She also gained first-hand experience with Web
applications when she established their first e-commerce site. Hagglund has spoken at
several key industry events and trade shows, most recently at the Performance Measurement
Show, E-Business World, and ASPCON. She has
published articles in several industry magazines ranging
from Java Developer's Journal to Distributed Computing.
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Making Automation Tools Work
Jamie Mitchell
Concepts:
Automation projects do not succeed by accident. They are a result of good processes, highly
skilled test developers, and attention to detail. All
successful software starts with good models of the real world. This presentation will start with a look at the
models of which testers must be aware. Then,
we will put those models to work, showing how to use them in the development of the
automation architecture, design, and scripts.
Presentation Outline:
The presentation will start with a
discussion of the limits of automation and why we need to plan, architect, and design our
automation program with care. We then will
look at a number of models stressing how the environment, the system, and the tool
actually work. Then, using the models, we
will discuss pragmatic decisions needed to create a successful automation suite. The discussion will not center on any single tool;
instead the general features of all of the tools will be featured.
Biography:
Jamie
L. Mitchell is a Senior Test Automation Consultant. He is a contributing editor and columnist for
“The Journal of Software Testing Professionals.”
He previously was a Senior Consultant and the Lead Automation Engineer for
Distributed Integration Testing / Global. He
has long been involved in test automation as automator, designer, architect, and mentor. Jamie has worked in test automation since the
first automation tools were released in Windows 3.0.
He earned the Master of Computer Science degree from Lehigh University and
is a QAI Certified Software Test Engineer. He
is an active member of the Twin Cities Quality Assurance Association.
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PSQT Track Presentations (Tuesday 2:15 - 3:15 PM)
Earning Management Respect for Quality and the
Value We Provide! Part II
Bill Hufschmidt
Concepts:
You think you
do a good job. You get good reviews. So why can’t you earn the recognition and
respect, for Yourself, and for Quality and Testing, that you know it deserves?
Presentation Outline:
-Reporting the synchronization between Requirements and
Functionality.
-Getting noticed using a simple new process that increases speed,
Quality and consensus.
-Efficiency Comparisons, Vendor Comparisons.
-A real Software Balanced Scorecard.
-Proving improved Quality in a Maintenance environment through
Leveraging, an overlooked method of gaining Management attention.
-Top Index and Supplemental Measures.
Biography:
Bill Hufschmidt
and the Development Support Center, now in their 16th year, have assisted with
the implementation of measurement programs worldwide in over 250 companies and
organizations covering over a dozen industries. His
experience with the above metrics includes instances of proving multi-million
dollar savings. Bill helped establish IFPUG;
gave it its name; served multiple terms on the Board and is currently involved with
several committees. He has been a keynote or
featured speaker at PSQT/PSTT, SIM, QAI, ASM, IFPUG, GUIDE, SHARE, IASA, LOMA and other
Productivity, Quality and Measurement forums. Bill
holds a BA in Economics and has been named to Who’s Who in American Business.
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Do’s
and Don’ts of Software Process Improvement
Patrick O’Toole
Concepts:
Everybody can recite the
standard SPI lessons – get senior management sponsorship, treat SPI like a project,
and demonstrate the benefits of SPI as you go. But,
like the CMM itself, these platitudes are non-prescriptive and are as difficult to
interpret within an organizational context as they are to implement.
This highly interactive
tutorial provides practical advice that will help the attendees jump-start and
re-invigorate their process improvement program and avoid the pitfalls that bogged down
many that have gone before. Blending real
world examples, practical advice, and humorous analogies, this presentation will assist
participants in thinking more robustly about their approach to SPI, and will give them
some proven approaches that they can implement immediately upon their return.
Presentation Outline:
Biography:
Patrick
O’Toole is an SEI authorized lead assessor who provides
consulting, training, and assessment services to major clients (Fortune 500). Pat is on the SEI’s list of most active lead
assessors and has led assessments spanning all maturity levels, including the largest
Level 5 assessment conducted to date. With over 20 years of software development,
project management, and consulting experience, Pat works with all levels of management,
SEPGs, and Process Action Teams in establishing, evaluating, and sustaining their process
improvement initiatives. He is a popular
instructor who supplements standard training material with his vast array of case studies
and humorous examples.
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An Introduction to Software Configuration
Management Principles and Practical Implementation Using Rational ClearCase
Mark C. Bielinski
Concepts:
The concepts in the presentation include the need for configuration
management and how speed to market and the quality of the software product can be improved
using configuration management processes and tools.
This is particularly important in today’s business environment and
delivery on the web. Topics covered will
include how configuration management fits into models such as the SEI’s CMM model and
ISO 15504, a brief history of the principles of configuration management. This will include Configuration Identification,
Change Control process and boards, Status accounting and configuration auditing. In particular practical techniques and tips will
be discussed in these areas such as how to go about setting a change control board. An overview of the tools required to support a
configuration management process will be given and in particular an overview of Rational
ClearCase. A case study will be given walking
through an approach to implementing the tool and process across an organization, in
particular the traps to avoid. An overview of
organizational change problems and practical solutions will be included in the
implementation section.
Biography:
Mark Bielinski has over twelve years
experience in the IT industry, and has worked in the pharmaceutical, oil exploration, and
telecommunications industries in quality assurance and project management roles. Mark is a certified by the Institute of
Configuration Management and is a PMP certified project manager. Mark has worked with a number of clients
implementing quality assurance best practices and has lead major software process
improvement efforts. In particular Mark has
implemented configuration management practices with clients including change control
procedures, production configuration management practices and tools, and software
configuration management tools for versioning and source code control. Mark is currently working with a client to roll
out Rational Clear Case across their enterprise. Mark
is also a speaker at the Institute of Configuration Management and has spoken on topics
including implementing change management procedures and organizational change.
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Which
Comes First, the Process or the Tool?
Patricia Edwards
Concepts:
The pervasive use of software in
support of business operations has been well documented.
However, most organizations that either develop or implement software to
support their operations are not satisfied with results that come from their software
testing system. The term “system”
is used intentionally to open a new view as to the contribution of software testing and
quality to the deployment of software systems. Do
any of the following questions sound familiar? Does the software testing process provide them with
the information they need to make sound release decisions?
Can the Project Manager accurately predict everything required to adequately
test the software in the time allotted—the people, software, hardware, tools, effort,
money, etc.? Do the testing project team
members know what is expected from them? Do
all project members, including senior management, know the status of the project and
progress towards meeting expectations? Upon
implementation, does the software application actually meet the needs of its users? Many times, software testing is not considered
until the end of the development process and only given the resources “available at
the time” to complete. As business processes have become more complex, the software
applications necessary to support those processes have become more complex. The software
testing systems must keep pace with the software in order to be effective. To that end, there have been a plethora of
tools that “solve the problems” of the software quality industry. If the tools solved the problems, everyone would
be following the same processes, using similar tools, achieving similar results. Since that does not appear to be the case, there
must be a deeper correlation between processes and tools.
An effective software testing system can become an integral part to the
software development or deployment process. These
systems can deliver the vital information necessary to make release decisions and assess
the risks associated with the release. The
efficiency and precision of the system is made more effective with the use and support of
the appropriate tools.
Presentation Outline:
Introduction
Software Testing Processes and Project Goals
Software Testing Architecture
The Role of Tools in Support of the Process Model
Conclusion
Biography:
Patricia Edwards
has over 15 years experience in Product Management, Quality Assurance, Software Testing
and Configuration Management. She is
currently a Product Manager for QACenter Testing Tools and has done several presentations
on Testing Processes. Patricia has been an
instructor. As a part of the core team in
developing a software testing process called “QualityPoint” – which is
patent pending, Ms. Edwards, was one of the first individuals to use this software testing
process, which is currently being implemented in companies around world.
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PSTT
Featured Presentation (Tuesday 2:15 - 3:15 PM)
Faster, Cheaper, AND Higher
Quality –
Testing in Internet Time
Robin Goldsmith
Concepts:
Faster, cheaper, better: pick
two. It sounds clever as a technology
guru’s flip retort and testers eagerly embrace it as wisdom that seems to relieve the
pressure of meeting unrealistic expectations. After
all, cutting test time is a typical way to meet impossibly short Internet deadlines. Managers must realize they can’t actually
get quality software with little or no testing, don’t they? Apparently not.
They indeed do expect us to deliver quality in Internet time. Buying into “pick two” only sets us up
to fail, so too does relying on cumbersome conventional methods. This eye-opening presentation shows a different,
practice approach for picking the few tests that pay off most. Not only does this approach produce higher quality
systems, it also actually enables developers to deliver the systems cheaper and quicker.
Biography:
Robin Goldsmith JD
is internationally recognized as an authority on business engineering and software
acquisition/development quality, testing, and productivity.
He is a frequent speaker at leading conferences. Formerly International Vice President of the
Association for Systems Management and Executive Editor of the Journal of Systems
Management, he currently is Vice Chair of the 2,000-member ASQ Boston Section.
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Conference Schedule
PSQT
Featured Presentation (Tuesday 3:45 - 4:45 PM)
The Business Case For Software Quality
Scott Jefferies
Concepts:
We all come to conferences where we learn about tools and techniques that can improve the
quality of our
software. However, an all too common comment is that management does not seem willing to
fund the
investment in tools, training, and mentoring required to deploy the quality solutions.
Ironically, quality is first and foremost an issue impacting business / mission success.
The investments required are trivial compared to what is at stake. This talk will address,
quantitatively and qualitatively, over a dozen areas of opportunity for making the case
for quality to senior management.
Presentation Outline:
· Early requirements-based testing reduces project risk
· Test automation reduces test costs, improves effectiveness
· The ERP challenge The E-business challenge
· Software is a critical success factor to nearly all enterprises
· Complying with regulatory requirements
· The failure rate for projects is enormous
· Production defects are expensive
· IT staffing issues at critical point
· Better testing reduces support costs
· Outsourcing
· COTS and GOTS
· Residual Implications of Y2K
· Software liability
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Conference Schedule
PSTT Track Presentations (Tuesday 3:45 - 4:45 PM)
Is a Use
Case a Test Case?
Jim Heumann
Concepts:
Understanding how a user will
interact with a system is important if the goal is to deliver a product that will
ultimately meet the users’ needs. With the surge in popularity of use cases, software
development teams are discovering/rediscovering how helpful this method is in defining and
building a user-oriented solution.
Each use case defines a series of steps that describe how a user
interacts with a system and what the system does in response. A test case is a set of test
inputs, execution conditions, and expected results that test for the achievement of a
particular system result. Are these the same thing? Are they like things? Can the use case
be the test case?
In his presentation, he will provide an overview of use case
methodology and describe how use cases can be applied to increase testing productivity. In addition, the talk will share lessons learned
from applying use cases to the software testing challenge at Rational Software.
Presentation Outline:
Attendees will learn:
·
The benefits of use cases
·
What use cases are and how they
are used
·
How a use case can be used to
create a test case
·
How use cases can be applied to
increase testing productivity
·
Lessons learned in applying use
cases to software testing
Biography:
As Requirements Management Evangelist, Jim Heumann specializes in the front end
of the software development lifecycle. Jim
has experience helping customers understand and implement software processes and tools. He has worked on analysis, development, design,
training and project management in several organizations of various sizes and industry
segments.
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Managing the Test Effort Using
Requirements-Based Testing Metrics
Gary Mogyorodi
Concepts:
In many organizations, there is difficulty quantifying the true state
of the test effort. Often testing is measured
by getting as much done as possible by an arbitrary deadline. The true level of quality is never really known,
and software is released to the next phase of development with portions of the code going
untested. This dramatically increases the
risk of software failure. Ironically, when testing is properly deployed, with heavy
emphasis on Requirements-Based Testing, it can have a major impact on overall project
productivity as well as product quality.
The
Requirements-Based Testing Methodology provides a set of metrics throughout the software
development cycle. These metrics clearly
provide the true state of the test effort at any point in time. This presentation describes the Requirements-Based
Testing (RBT) process and details the derivation of each RBT metric and its impact on the
software development process. This
presentation will address how a RBT process reduces the risk of delivering untested code,
and provides project management with quantitative data on the test effort throughout the
software development lifecycle. The combined
results are fewer tests with greater functional coverage, shortened time to delivery,
reduced costs of development, and significantly improved quality.
Biography:
Currently a Technology Engineering Manager, Gary Mogyorodi has
over 27 years of experience consulting, training and mentoring in software testing,
specializing in test case design. He also served as Senior Technology Engineer. Gary
was a Quality Assurance and Software Testing specialist, managing testing efforts,
developing testing methodologies, and creating standards and procedures for quality
assurance and testing. Prior to that, he worked as a Programmer, Systems Analyst and
Manager of Software Development. Gary
Mogyorodi obtained a B. Math degree from the University of Waterloo, and a M.B.A. from
McMaster University. A prolific speaker, he has delivered presentations at events
including the SQA User's Conference, CIPS (Canadian Information Processing Society,
Toronto and Hamilton Chapters), TassQ (Toronto Association for System and Software
Quality), CQAA (Chicago Quality Assurance Association), the STAR West (twice) and STAR
East Conferences, the Software Quality Forum, and the Toronto SPIN (Software Process
Improvement Network).
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Managing Automated Testing for Web Applications
Elfriede Dustin
Concepts:
Web application testing present some entirely new challenges for
testing professionals! What are these new challenges and what makes web testing different?
This presentation will explore the paradigm shift from managing the testing efforts of
traditional applications such as client/server application to testing web applications.
Web testing is somewhat different and the Test Manager will have to reevaluate the testing
approach. Yet the presentation will point out that test engineers will still be able to
apply traditional testing methods, such as the Automated Software Testing Life-cycle
(ATLM) described in the book "Automated Software Testing." This presentation
will explore how the ATLM applies to Web testing and discuss the various testing
categories for testing web application.
Finally, this presentation will contain a case study that explores the evaluation of the
various testing tools on the market. There are a growing number of tool vendors and
products on the market that have potential to support Web application testing. The tools
mentioned in this presentation focus on tools selected from vendors that center their
products specifically on web testing solutions and vendors who have sufficient market
share to ensure their stay in business, such as RSW, Rational, and Mercury. The case study will define how the tools were
evaluated, what evaluation criteria was used, which tools were chosen and why.
Biography:
Elfriede Dustin
is a SQA Certified test engineer and has supported test efforts for a multitude of
applications. She is frequently a speaker at
various Quality Assurance and Software Test Conferences.
Elfriede has a BS degree in Computer Science and has performed as a Computer
Systems Analyst/Programmer developing software applications and utilities, process and
data modeling using CASE tools, and system design simulation models.
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Developing Solutions through
Patterns
Jamie Mitchell
Concepts:
Many of the failures of test automation tools can be directly
attributed to faulty assumptions made by the tool vendors as to the nature of testing. Software testers are not just monkeys banging on
keyboards; during the execution of a manual testcase, it is not unusual for a tester to
make hundreds of instantaneous decisions, all of which contribute to the successful
execution of the test.
We need to model the automated testcase on the assumption that
testing is a complex set of behaviors. That
means programming the script is not a simple recorded, one-size-fits-all methodology. Luckily, we can identify certain patterns of
behaviors that all testers exhibit and use them to create code that can test software in a
robust and successful way.
Presentation Outline:
Test automation tools, absent all of
the bells and whistles, are really nothing more than programming languages. The problem most test organizations have, however,
are that they are not staffed with programmers to use these tools. We may never be able to completely eliminate the
complexity of programming; for sure we cannot simply ignore it. One of the reasons that automation projects fail
so often is that we try to ignore the programming of scripts by letting the tool generate
all of the code (via the recording facilities.) Well,
if we must program (and we must) then let’s find the easiest ways to do it. It turns out that much of the complexity of
programming can be reduced by recognizing and taking advantage of the patterns of behavior
exhibited by manual testers and patterns of execution inherent in software. This presentation will illustrate a variety of
patterns that are useful to automation and develop programming templates for utilizing
them in scripts.
Biography:
Jamie
L. Mitchell is a Senior Test Automation Consultant. He is a contributing editor and columnist for
“The Journal of Software Testing Professionals.”
He previously was a Senior Consultant and the Lead Automation Engineer for
Distributed Integration Testing / Global. He
has long been involved in test automation as automator, designer, architect, and mentor. He has worked in test automation since the first
automation tools were released in Windows 3.0. He
earned the Master of Computer Science degree from Lehigh University and is a QAI Certified
Software Test Engineer. He is an active
member of the Twin Cities Quality Assurance Association.
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