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It seems like
2014 just started not too long ago, and now it's almost over. We hope
it's been a productive year for you and your colleagues.
I've been busy
with book updates. The second edition of Advanced Software Testing: Volume 2
(the ISTQB Advanced Test Manager book) is now out. Final edits are
underway on Advanced
Software Testing: Volume 3 (the ISTQB Advanced Technical
Test Analyst book).
We also added a
new course to our line-up this year, our accredited Agile Tester
Foundation course. This course is off to a great start, and an
e-learning version of the course should be available soon. I'll be
running that course at the STP Conference in Denver next week, and we
have more information on that below.
On the topic of
courses, you'll find some useful questions to ask us--or any training
provider--when you're shopping for training. Just because a course is
accredited doesn't mean it's the same as every other accredited
course.
A few months ago,
Jim Coplien started an interesting and useful debate on the efficacy
of unit testing. This month, he's back with another installment,
refining his ideas. Agree or disagree, you'll find it food for
thought.
Finally, our
monthly free webinar series continues, going strong with tens of
thousands of registrants over the long history of success. We will be
finishing 2014 strong, and are already planning webinars for
2015.
Regards,
Rex Black,
President
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  In Memoriam
Hank
January
2005- September 11, 2014
Our June 2014 newsletter
included an ode to our trusty office dog, Cosmo, that had died
of a mature age of 14 years. We were totally unprepared for what was
in store for us two weeks later when we discovered that our
remaining four-legged associate, Hank, had an aggressive form of
terminal cancer. Thankfully, his quality of life was supreme and he
did not miss an office meeting until his final day on September 11,
2014. We miss you, our friend.
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Shopping for Software Testing Training? What
Questions Should You be Asking?
Usually, when our office receives inquires from
first-time clients, organizations we have not worked with in the
past, regarding consulting or testing training, we know they are
"shopping" for the provider that can best meet their needs.
Sometimes, budget is of primary concern. Other times, course
content takes precedence. Most of the time, finding an equal balance
between the two is the goal. Regardless of priorities, we always
advise our perspective clients on what questions to ask providers.
Our goal is to never have an unsatisfied client, even if that means
that they receive services elsewhere.
What follows are some of the questions, along with the
RBCS responses, we recommend that people ask training providers:
Q: Is certification a goal?
RBCS: RBCS provides an impressive lineup of
non-certification and certification courses including
ISTQB Foundation Level, ISTQB Agile Tester Foundation Level
Extension and all three Advanced Level trainings. Clients
choosing Advanced, Foundation and Agile Tester Foundation Level
Extension training have the advantage of having Advanced certified
trainers delivering the all of the courses, thus providing a true
continuum of training services. The RBCS training course lineup can
be found on our training page.
Q: We cannot decide if we want the course live or
electronically delivered. What are our options?
RBCS: Most of the RBCS courses are available in live
and e-learning format. Also, the option for virtual live delivery is
available!
Q: Can a certification course be delivered without the
exam at the end?
RBCS: Absolutely. RBCS ISTQB Certified Tester courses
are not exam cram courses. They are written to be applicable to real
life scenarios as well as to prepare individuals to sit for the exam.
Q: Who wrote the materials?
RBCS: Rex Black, RBCS President and past
president of the ASTQB and ISTQB, wrote or co-wrote the RBCS
ISTQB course materials and the non-certification materials. He is a
co-author of both the ISTQB Foundation and Advanced syllabi.
Q: What study aids do I receive with each course?
RBCS: What you receive depends on whether you are
purchasing a live (private or public course) or e-learning course.
All of the RBCS live courses include access to the e-learning version
of the course prior to the live course and a hard copy version of the
note set and supplemental textbook prior to the first day of the
course. These resources are provided as a means of self study.
E-learning users receive 3 months of access to the e-learning course
and hard copy materials if the course is not "green" or the
option to purchase hard copy materials if the course is
"green".
Q: If my course is a certification course, is the
exam included?
RBCS: An exam voucher to be used at a Kryterion
Testing Center is included with most e-learning courses with
the exception of the agile course and the Requirements Engineering
Foundation course. In regards to the agile course, we have found a
significant number of people opting not to take the exam. The exam voucher
can be purchased through RBCS separately. A live exam is included
with the public courses and the private courses. In regards to the
Requirements Engineering Foundation level course, we will provide
instructions on how to pay for and register for your exam through a
third party testing center.
Q: I have a group of people taking a certification
course, are there any discounts available for the exam?
RBCS: Yes. RBCS is a Volume Purchase
Provider. Ask us about the discount levels.
Q: What is your pass rate for certification exams?
RBCS: Always ask the training provider for their pass
rate. This will provide more information than a provider
offering a "guarantee" of passing. RBCS boasts pass
rates higher than the international averages. These can be
provided per exam and year.
Q: Do you guarantee passing?
RBCS: Be wary of providers that guarantee passing. We
cannot guarantee that a person will pass. If one does not study it is
likely that one will not pass. It is that simple. Instead
of investing money to purchase a second exam for an individual (this
is what some providers do), RBCS invests the money in providing
superior study aids such as the e-learning course as a supplement to
the live course so that an individual will take the exam only one
time - and pass.
Q: Where do you deliver courses?
RBCS: We have a worldwide network of licensees
and trainers who can deliver our courses at just about any location -
a service no other training provider anywhere can match.
Q: Who are the instructors?
RBCS: All of our trainers and consultants
are highly experienced test practitioners with an average of 20+
years in the field, possess ISTQB Foundation and Advanced
certificates, and have extensive backgrounds providing consulting
advice and expertise to clients.
Contact us to ask about a specific
class. It is our pleasure to host your training course. It is
our mission to create a pleasant learning environment from your first
point of contact with RBCS.
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Seque
Chapter 2
By James O Coplien
I guess it's time for the second installment. My
earlier essay started just as a casual reply to a client, but when
Rex Black posted it on his web site, it went viral - going to #3 on
Reddit and appearing prominently on other social networking
amalgamation sites. Since then I've had the pleasure of watching the
dialog unfold. It's ranged from profound to just silly and, sadly,
the majority of it falls into the latter category. It appears as
though there is a very wide mythology, perhaps propelled by industry
hope and fuelled by academic programs and consultants desperate to
justify their reason to exist.
There have been precious few real arguments against
the positions I laid out in the earlier essay, but a lot of emotive
disagreement. In this second round I take inspiration from the dialog
that ensued from the first round and offer a few more insights and
opinions. Forgive me for opining a bit more in this round than in the
first, but I had already covered most of the substantial groundings
earlier.
Here, I'll present a very few fundamental arguments
against unit testing that in theory should have been in the first
article, such as Weinberg's Law of Decomposition (An Introduction to
General Systems Thinking by Gerald Weinberg, 2001). I'll offer some
models that help us reason about QA in general, such as the Venn
diagram on testing opportunity. And I've looked further into my
contacts to find other smells in unit testing, such as the
work-in-progress from Magne Jørgensen, and the broader perspective at
Toyota that challenges the very idea of testing as we usually think
of it. Last, I'll look at some of the more archetypical responses
that the gallery offered on the first round, together with my
analysis. These provide a good cross-section of the typical misunderstandings
that flood our industry.
Please refer back to Chapter 1 before launching into
social media discussions on Chapter 2. You can find the earlier
chapter at: http://www.rbcs-us.com/documents/Why-Most-Unit-Testing-is-Waste.pdf.
Visit our articles page to
read this article in its entirety.
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Featured
Course
ISTQB
Advanced Test Analyst Training
San Antonio,
Texas
December 8-11,
2014
Instructor: Rex
Black
Our price:
$2,250
This hands-on course provides test engineers with the
ability to define and carry out the tasks required to put the
strategy into action and is ideal for testers and test teams
preparing for certification. In preparation for the exam,
participants will learn the subject matter behind the test standard
and deepen their understanding by working through case studies and
exercises. In group exercises, typical review situations are played
out and analyzed. The objectives for the course are as follows:
- Recognize and classify the typical
risks associated with the performance, security, reliability,
portability and maintainability of software systems.
- Create test plans which detail the
planning, design and execution of tests for mitigating
performance, security, reliability, portability and
maintainability risks.
- Select and apply appropriate
structural design techniques to ensure that tests provide an
adequate level of confidence, based on code coverage and design
coverage.
- Effectively participate in technical
reviews with developers and software architects applying
knowledge of typical mistakes made in code and architecture.
- Recognize risks in code and software
architecture and create test plan elements to mitigate those
risks through dynamic analysis.
- Propose improvements to the
security, maintainability and testability of code by applying
static analysis.
- Outline the costs and benefits to be
expected from introducing particular types of test automation.
- Select appropriate tools to automate
technical testing tasks.
- Understand the technical issues and
concepts in applying test automation.
Purchase of the course
tuition includes:
- Complimentary access to the RBCS
e-learning course
- Instructor-led four-day course
- A set of approximately 500
PowerPoint slides covering the topics to be addressed
- Foundation Sample Exam Questions and
Foundation Level mock exam to provide a review of the Foundation
Level exam
- Link to ISTQB Advanced Level
Syllabus Test Analyst
- Link to the latest glossary of terms
used in Software Testing produced by members of the ISTQB
- Link to Standards for Software
Testing
- Advanced Test Analyst Sample Exam
Questions embedded throughout course. A complete set of
questions for every learning objective in the Test Analyst
module of the ISTQB Advanced Syllabus.
- Exercise solutions
- Advanced Test Analyst Mock Exam
- Project Source Documents for Course
Exercises
- Copy of the text book "Advanced
Software Testing-Vol.1: Guide to the ISTQB Advanced
Certification as an Advanced Test Analyst"
- The $200 certification exam fee.
Exams are held on the afternoon of the final course day and are
administered by a representative from the American Software
Testing Qualifications Board. All attendees of the Advanced
Level courses must have successfully completed Foundation Level
training and sufficient practical experience. Proof of
eligibility is available from the American Software Testing
Qualifications Board and is required to take an Advanced exam.
- Course completion certificate (often
used for employer reimbursement)
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Mark Your
Calendar.....
November 2 - November 6, 2014
An event
where test leadership, management and strategy converge. The hottest
topics in the industry are covered including agile testing,
performance testing, test automation, mobile application testing, and
test team leadership and management. Attending this conference will
help you meet your professional career goals and give you the
opportunity to improve your software testing techniques; find the
latest tools; discover emerging trends; develop new or improve
existing processes; network and gather with other high-level
professionals; and gain industry insight.
See Rex
Black lead the 2-Day ISTQB Agile Tester Foundation Workshop and an
extended session entitled Interviewing
Testers.
WANT TO ATTEND
BOTH WORKSHOPS?
ADD THE FULL CONFERENCE TO THIS
2 DAY CERTIFICATION COURSE
WITH CODE: RBCSF14
AND PAY ONLY $1995
Register today!
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Complimentary
Webinars
Did
you miss the complimentary webinar, "Agile V Model: Oxymoron or
Best Practice" on October 8th? Check out what you missed!
Webinar
attendees are automatically entered into a drawing to win their
choice of one of our green e-learning courses. Visit our training page to see the complete
webinar schedule, or just look on this email, sign up for a webinar,
show up at whichever webinar session is most convenient, and--who
knows--you might be the lucky winner of some valuable free
training. Either way, you're sure to learn something.
Congratulations Betty
Kimball, an attendee of the October webinar, for being
selected as the winner of an e-learning course.
Register now for our
next complimentary webinar, "Agile Risk-based Testing: A
How-to Guide", November 12, 2014.
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Green Tip
Look
for plants that are naturally pest-resistant. Encourage helpful
insects that prey on pests by growing nectar or pollen flowers and
choosing perennial ground coverings. Also, try keeping your grass at
a higher length. Higher grass mowed by sharp blades will prevent
weeds from taking root.
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Complimentary Webinars
Earn
1.5 PDUs for select webinars. Attendance of the live webinar
is required to earn PDUs.
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ISTQB Certified Tester Virtual Courses
(based on materials accredited to
the 2012 syllabus)
December 1-2, 2014
12 noon to 3:30 pm CST
March 2-3, 2015
12 noon to 3:30 pm CST
ISTQB Advanced Level
Test Analyst Boot Camp
(updated for 2012 syllabus)
US$ 599
November 13-14, 2014
12 noon to 3:30 pm CST
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Non-Certification Virtual
Workshops
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Certification Public Courses
Test Engineering
Foundation Level
(accredited by ASTQB June 2010)
Earn 22.5 PDUs for this course
US$ 2,000
December 1-4, 2014
Denver, Colorado
Visit our training page soon
for 2015 courses
Foundation Level
Extension Agile Tester
(accredited by ASTQB July 2014)
Visit our training page soon
for 2015 courses
Advanced Test Manager
(accredited to 2012 syllabus by ASTQB December 2012)
Earn
32.5 PDUs for this course
US$ 2,650
November 17-21, 2014
Seattle, Washington
December 8-12, 2014 Atlanta, Georgia
Visit our training page soon
for 2015 courses
(accredited
to 2012 syllabus by ASTQB December 2012)
October 27-30, 2014
Boston, Massachusetts
December 8-11, 2014
San Antonio, Texas
Visit our training
page soon for 2015 courses
Advanced Technical Test
Analyst
(accredited to 2012 syllabus by ASTQB January
2013)
US$ 2,250
October 14-16, 2014
Austin, Texas
Visit our training
page soon for 2015 courses
(an IREB, IIBA and IBAQB exam preparation course)
Earn 18 CDUs for this course
US$ 2,500
Contact RBCS
to schedule
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