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Software Testing: A guide to the TMap Approach
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Product Description
This book will:*Introduce you to the method and take you through it step-by-step*Enable you to address and deal with organizational issues, including functions within a team, training, consulting and administration of the process*Cover practical infrastructure issues, like the option of using an automation tool to aid the test process*Outline the different development situations in which TMap has been used, for example, client server, GUI, Object-Oriented, ERP and web-enabled scenarios, and give tips on what problems to look out for in each one
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #138706 in Books
- Published on: 2001-12-09
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 592 pages
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
Testing is an essential part of the software development lifecycle, focusing on issues that must be addressed before the information system goes into production. Have all parts and characteristics of the information system been checked sufficiently? Have issues such as suitability, performance and security been looked at? Have all defects been corrected without any new ones being introduced during the re-work process? It is crucial that these questions are not left unanswered until the final stages, so therefore a well-structured and reliable test process is required.
TMap (Test Management approach) is a well-established and internationally proven methodology, having been developed in the Netherlands and Belgium by IQUIP Informatica B.V, a software testing specialist. It will help save your company time and money by producing well-designed, reliable quality systems. As the method is non-proprietary and is independent of any development method and platform, you can adapt it to suit your organization and its specific requirements.
If you are directly involved in the test process, Software Testing: A Guide to the TMap(R) Approach is for you. It will:
- Introduce you to the method and take you through it step-by-step
- Enable you to address and deal with organizational issues, including functions within a team, training, consulting and administration of the process
- Cover practical infrastructure issues, like the option of using an automation tool to aid the test process
- Outline the different development situations in which TMap has been used, for example, client server, GUI, Object-Oriented, ERP and web-enabled scenarios, and give tips on what problems to look out for in each one
Features:
- A running case study, including a test plan using a real-life example
- A companion website containing updated examples, test case templates, documentation and checklists
- Foreword by Dorothy Graham
0201745712B12142001
About the Author
Martin Pol is both CEO and senior consultant of Polteq International Testing Services B.V. and an advisor to the R&D department of IQUIP Informatica B.V. He has had over 25 years' experience in structured testing and was involved in the development of Tmap. Martin is a highly regarded lecturer and speaker throughout the world and has twice chaired the EuroSTAR conference. He has recently received the European Testing Excellence Award for his contribution to the field of testing. Ruud Teunissen is an international test consultant for IQUIP Informatica B.V. and Gitek, Belgium. He has an outstanding track record in test management and test consultancy and is a regular speaker at international conferences. Erik van Veenendaal is a co-founder of Improve Quality Services and is also a lecturer and researcher at Eindhoven University of Technology, Faculty of Technology Management. He is the author of a number of software quality and testing books, a regular speaker at conferences and is a leading trainer in the field of software testing. 0201745712AB12142001
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
TMap: the book The TMap
In 1998, the English summary ‘Structured testing: an introduction to TMap’ was published. It caught the attention of several international organizations, and the demand for the complete English version became enormous, especially through the well-attended TMap-courses. These courses are successfully organized in the Benelux and other parts of the world (UK, USA, Scandinavia, etc.).
Through these courses and, in particular, the continuously increasing international use of the TMap approach, the number of TMap experts is constantly growing, thereby creating an unprecedented flow of information on the application of TMap within different organizations and projects. As authors, we felt obliged to gather all experiences and new developments and share them with the TMap user community: publications in the press and on the Internet; papers, tutorials and track presentations at international test conferences; publication of the German version and TMap-related books regarding test process improvement (TPI); test automation; and finally the reviewed Dutch edition of the standard in 1999. But the demand of the English-speaking community kept on growing.
The authors are proud to present this book: the first complete English version of testing according to TMap. We wish you success in applying TMap, and are keen to share your experiences and critics. Let us continue to improve the testing profession and, by doing so, help the IT industry to introduce even better products to society.
TMap: the approach
This book describes TMap as the approach for the structured (white-box and black-box) testing of information systems. It answers the what, when, how, by what, and by whom questions regarding testing.
In order to make the design and execution of test processes more structured, TMap is based on four cornerstones related to those questions. The ‘what/when’ questions are answered by the
lifecycle model, a description of the test cycle related to the development cycle. The ‘how’ question is answered in the description of the techniques for planning, preparation and execution of several tests. The ‘by what’ question is considered in the description of the infrastructure. And the description of the organization aspects answers the ‘by whom’ question.Structure of the book
TMap is a generic approach to structured testing. The theory is described in a universal way because the one and only test approach does not exist. Testing occurs in several variations that demand their own application of the standard. In this book, ample attention is given to the way in which the right components of TMap in any kind of test process could be selected. This book is divided into six parts. Part I describes the phenomenon of testing and TMap in general. Parts II to V describe the respective cornerstones of TMap: lifecycle, techniques, organization and infrastructure. Part VI consists of several important applications of TMap towards modern developments in IT.
Part I describes the importance and the context of software testing in general and the relation with quality assurance in particular. The need for testing and the possibilities of a structured application are described in detail. Part I is concluded with an overview of the test management approach.
Part II contains a detailed description of the lifecycle for test processes. Test activities are described systematically for master test planning, and the low-level and high-level tests. The lifecycle is the central cornerstone of TMap. It describes the relation between the activities in a test process and all the components of the remaining cornerstones: techniques, organization and infrastructure.
Part III describes the available testing techniques in detail. As well as extensive test-specification techniques, the TMap set contains, among others, techniques for test strategy, test effort estimation, and an extensive set of checklists for static testing.
Part IV contains a detailed description of the organizational aspects of testing. It describes the different test functions, including required knowledge and skills, the organization within the test team — tasks and responsibilities — and the incorporation of the test team in the line or project organization. It also pays attention to the recruitment, selection and training of test personnel. Due to the need for ‘hard figures’ about the test process the implementation of metrics is discussed. Part IV is concluded by a chapter on test process improvement: a practical step-by-step guide to structured testing.
Part V describes the infrastructure needed for testing. Guidelines are included for the test environment, test tools and the office environment.
Part VI contains a number of specific applications of TMap. Among others, extensions are created for object orientation (OO), enterprise resource planning (ERP), component-based development (CBD), test automation, and the Internet.
The appendices contain an elaborated example of a test plan, and a description of relations between TMap quality characteristics and ISO9216 quality characteristics definitions.
Target audience
The primary audience of this book is the group of people involved directly in the test process. A test team may use this book as a guide to perform test activities. For those who operate at more of a distance from the basic test process, such as clients, end users, and IT auditors, this book offers a good insight into the phenomenon of testing. For this purpose, in Part I some chapters have been added in which the background and the set-up of testing are discussed. This book does not have to be read from beginning to end. Depending on the involvement in testing, readers will look at some parts thoroughly, briefly or not at all. All readers are advised to look in the first place at Chapter 5 or preferably Part I in its entirety. After that, the interest and use will differ according to the target group.
l
Test managers, test coordinators and the like are advised to study the entire book, especially Parts II and IV, and Chapters 10, 11 and 12. Depending on the assignment of supporting test tasks, it is also advisable to read Part V.l
For those people in charge of the primary test activities (testers, developers, users and system managers), you are recommended to study thoroughly Part II and (parts of) Parts III and V.l
IT auditors and employees charged with quality care should look at Parts II and III.l
Clients for development and test processes and line management will, after reading Part I, probably make a selection according to their own interests, for instance organizational aspects (Part IV) or the master test plan (Chapter 7).l
For students (information engineering/business economy) and teachers, the study of the total theoretical framework is important.l
For employees of the personnel and organization departments, Part IV and especially Chapters 19 and 20 offer good references.0201745712P11122001
Customer Reviews
Finally in English!
My first introduction to TMAP was in "Test Process Improvement: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Structured Testing" which the author co-authored. It piqued my interest, but unfortunately all of the literature on TMAP was written in Dutch. This book makes this powerful test management approach available to English speaking readers, making it invaluable.
First, a little about TMAP to explain why I think the approach is important and useful: It views testing as a process instead of a collection of procedures. The advantage is that once a process is in place it can be stabilized and improved upon. The key to testing is repeatability, and without a process there can be no repeatability. TMAP consists of four elements that combine to form a cohesive test management model:
(1) Testing life cycle that is aligned to the development life cycle. This life cycle is encapsulated within a planning and control framework that easily fits into the project management activities of the development life cycle.
(2) Testing techniques - not the techniques used in the execution of test cases, but the techniques employed for defining a test strategy, developing test specifications, and the associated artifacts. This book does cover some basic test execution techniques, but they are not the focus of the book and are not covered in great detail.
(3) Infrastructure and tools - addresses what are the minimums for an effective test process in the form of environments and tools. If you're establishing a test organization this aspect will be invaluable.
(4) Organization - how the test organization is structured and how it relates to external functions, such as development, configuration and release management, project management and other major stakeholders.
Each of the above elements and their parts are covered in great detail, resulting in a sound framework for test management. That alone makes this book invaluable, but there are some additional gems that I especially liked:
- Test point analysis and estimation, which is an estimating method for test effort that is based on function point analysis. This is incredibly valuable because accurate estimation is one of the shortfalls in testing. This alone is reason to buy the book.
- The wealth of checklists - I especially liked the comprehensive list of quality characteristics.
- Testing in maintenance situations - probably the most common situation for software testing and this book covers it well.
This book and the related one titled "Test Process Improvement: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide to Structured Testing" combine to give a complete picture of test management and test process improvement. I recommend both, as well as "Systematic Software Testing" by Rick D. Craig and Stefan P. Jaskiel which lays the foundation for, and is consistent with, both TPI and TMAP.
