Advanced Software Test Design Techniques: Use Cases | January 2010 software testing newsletter from RBCS

Old holiday cards can provide cheer a second time around. Send them to St. Jude's Ranch, which will have their kids recreate new recycled cards to sell. Of course, you can also recycle old cards yourself, and/or turn the images into gift tags or new cards for next year.

Tip provided by our partner BeGreen www.BeGreennow.com.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to 2010, and our first newsletter of the year. We have some useful information to help get your testing off to the right start.

For example, how about some advanced software test design techniques, in this instance, use cases? An article on how to transform use cases into test cases is included here. Forgive the pun, but some of you might find it useful.

Many of our clients are working with RBCS to get started doing risk based testing. Why? Well, risk based testing helps people find more important bugs (and find them earlier), triage tests intelligently under schedule pressure, and report test results in terms of residual risk. If you're curious about risk based testing, or already applying the technique and looking for tips, be sure to check out the Digital Library options mentioned below.

Speaking of risk based testing, if you check our list of e-learning courses below, you'll see that we now have a e-learning version of our risk based testing course.

If you've ever taken one of our e-learning courses, you've probably exchanged e-mails with Dena Pauletti. At the very least, you've seen her work, since she assembles the courses from the raw materials and coordinates the all-important testing of the courses before they go live. So, we thought we'd introduce her to you in this newsletter.

We take a virtual excursion to the RBCS' antipodean offices, RBCS AU and RBCS NZ, along with a written visit to Russia. We also have the usual green tip, a tip of the hat (to Pat), and a few other odds and ends for you below. I hope you find this newsletter enlightening and enjoyable.

Regards,

Rex Black, President

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Advanced Software Test Design Techniques: Use Cases

by Rex Black

The following is an excerpt from my recently-published book, Advanced Software Testing: Volume 1. This is a book for test analysts and test engineers. It is especially useful for ISTQB Advanced Test Analyst certificate candidates, but contains detailed discussions of test design techniques that any tester can-and should-use. In this third article in a series of excerpts, I discuss the application of use cases to testing workflows.

At the start of this series, I said we would cover three techniques that would prove useful for testing business logic, often more useful than equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis. First, we covered decision tables, which are best in transactional testing situations. Next, we looked at state-based testing, which is ideal when we have sequences of events that occur and conditions that apply to those events, and the proper handling of a particular event/condition situation depends on the events and conditions that have occurred in the past. In this article, we'll cover use cases, where preconditions and postconditions help to insulate one workflow from the previous workflow and the next workflow. With these three techniques in hand, you have a set of powerful techniques for testing the business logic of a system.

This article was originally published in Testing Experience Magazine. Subscribe today!

View this article in its entirety on our articles page.

Are you keeping up with RBCS' Yearlong Series on Risk Based Testing?

Follow our special yearlong series on risk based testing that shares Rex Black's insights based on over 15 years of using, improving, and teaching risk based testing.

Visit our digital library, YouTube and iTunes (RBCS Podcast) to access recorded videos.

If you are interested in a comprehensive three-day onsite course on Risk Based Testing at your company, contact us at info@rbcs-us.com or call (830) 438-4830. Our new e-learning package is also available for sale at RBCS Testing Resources Marketplace.

Have you Ever Talked to Dena?

In February Dena Pauletti, RBCS' Technical Administrator will celebrate her 2 year employment with RBCS. Hers is often the first voice clients will hear when making initial calls to RBCS. She is also the main point of contact for many of our long-time clients. Her pleasant personality and dedication to customer service lends itself to making the overall client relationship an extremely positive experience right from the start.

Dena assists with the day to day operations of RBCS, with responsibilities ranging from fulfilling orders and coordinating training courses to helping with the maintenance of e-learning courses and handling licensee relations. Dena has a career history in Software Development, which gives her valuable insight into how to manage every detail of her daily job responsibilities. After earning a Bachelors of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems from Stephen F. Austin State University, Dena began her career as a software developer. She developed and maintained software used by customer business systems and sales force groups for a semiconductor and computer technology company. Dena and her husband moved to Colorado for a few years where she worked as a software developer for a call center system for a local cable company.

Critical Testing Processes Introduction - in Russian!

We receive frequent requests from all over the globe to translate our articles, publications and Rex Black's books into other languages. Most recently Andrey Punin requested that he translate the introduction to Rex Black's acclaimed book, Critical testing Processes, into Russian.

Andrey works as a test lead in a large software company in Moscow, Russia. His experience covers test automation, test team planning and management, development of test strategy, test department creation, coaching, and transfer of test activities from one country to another (within one large software company). He has written several articles on software testing. He also enjoys translating software testing articles from English to Russian.

To see the translation, visit our Basic Library page.

Need Software Testing and QA Services in Australia or New Zealand?

RBCS-AU and RBCS-NZ will help you produce higher quality products and build a better testing organization. Via parent companies, RBCS Inc. and Software Education, you will have access to a large team of international and local skilled test consultants and experienced test specialists. This team is successfully operating under the leadership of Martyn Jones and technical guidance of Rex Black.

Consulting
We offer high-end, world-class software testing consultancy. From improving test processes to overcoming specific test challenges, RBCS' consulting services are tailored to your needs and guaranteed to deliver results.

Training
In Australasia, training is exclusively delivered through Software Education, the region's leading specialist provider in professional software development training. Software Education offers a comprehensive range of software testing courses, along with Australasia's premier conference in software testing - STANZ.

Outsourcing
Whether on-site, off-site, or offshore, you will have access to a worldwide team of highly experienced test analysts, test specialists and test managers to complement your testing group, reduce operating costs, and help you scale to meet changing needs

In Australia, for more information please e-mail info@rbcs-au.com or call +61 7 3252 0281 today! In New Zealand, for more information please email info@rbcs-nz.com or call +64 4 924 1273 today!

January "Rexisms"

Some of you may have heard Rex's sayings over the years. We decided to coin them "Rexisms" for your reading pleasure. So here they are to ponder - some useful aphorisms to help you plan, prepare, perform, and perfect your testing activities, compiled from over a quarter-century of software and systems engineering experience.

The smart test manager knows the relative importance of four project variables: quality, schedule, budget, and features. Unless you know where those stand in the corporate priority list, you can't make good trade-off decisions when constraints bite.

Context matters, but less than a lot of people think. As test professionals, we have many more problems in common than we have uncommon problems, which means that we can apply common solutions. Another name for common solutions is "best practices."

In risk based testing, it's more important to have the right people involved than it is to follow the process exactly right.

RBCS Congratulates Patricia McQuaid on Her Re-Election to ASTQB President

On January 16, 2009, the American Software Testing Qualifications Board (ASTQB) re-elected Patricia McQuaid as the ASTQB President. This will be her second term as the ASTQB President. Joe Gance was re-elected as Vice President and Randy Rice re-elected as Treasurer. RBCS would like to take the opportunity to thank the entire Executive Committee for their tireless efforts on the ASTQB Board.