Testing Extreme Programming - Softcover

Crispin, Lisa; House, Tip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0321113551 ISBN 13: 9780321113559

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional, 2002

Synopsis

Testing is a cornerstone within the burgeoning discipline of Extreme Programming. Much has been written about XP, but to date, no book has specifically addressed the key role that the tester plays in this lightweight methodology. This new book defines how an XP tester can optimally contribute to a project, including what testers should do, when they should do it, and how they should do it. Each teaching point is supported by practical examples, helpful suggestions, and proven techniques that will help readers improve the quality of their next project. The material is based on the authors' real-world experience making XP work within development organizations. The book also provides a unique "Road Hazard Survival Kit" with copious resources that help the tester address common pitfalls. Both testers unfamiliar with XP, and XP devotees unfamiliar with testing, will benefit greatly from this book.

About this title

About the Author

Lisa Crispin has more than ten years of experience testing Web applications, databases, 4GLs, middleware, and business applications. She first elbowed her way onto an XP team in July 2000. Lisa has published articles based on her XP testing experience in STQE Magazine, Novatica, and other technical journals. She has also presented technical papers and seminars on XP testing in the U.S. and Europe.

Tip House, a chief systems analyst at the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, has twenty-five years of experience in software development, testing, and quality assurance. Tip is a Certified Quality Analyst, Certified Software Quality Engineer, and trained Lead Ticket Auditor. He is the creator of numerous tools for test automation and software configuration, including the WebART tool, and is the author of numerous papers and presentations on software testing, software measurement, electronic document control/collaboration, and XP.

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From the Back Cover

The rapid rise in popularity of Extreme Programming (XP) has put the practice of software testing squarely in the spotlight of application development. At one time, testing was a neglected practice, a highly specialized activity that came as an afterthought as complex, code-intensive projects were rushed to completion. But in today's world of escalating quality expectations, testing is a key component of the development process.

XP accelerates testing by demanding its complete integration with development. This in turn has pushed software professionals to rethink their traditional attitudes toward testing. XP asks the entire development team to embrace testing. In fact, testing is so critical to the XP methodology that programmers are required to write automated tests before they begin coding. Until now, however, there has been a distinct lack of instruction specific to testing and how it relates to XP.

Testing Extreme Programming is a practical tutorial that gives software builders a lucid understanding of this important aspect of development. This book demonstrates how testing is central to the XP project, clearly spelling out what testing should be done and when and how it should be performed. The authors teach by example, and readers will be able to improve their knowledge of the testing process by completing the book's exercises.

In addition, this book:

• Provides a general overview of the XP methodology
• Defines the roles of XP team members
• Shows how to write effective tests before coding begins
• Helps you avoid the traps and pitfalls that can derail software projects
• Sheds light on the important practice of refactoring and how it relates to testing
• Compares and contrasts manual and automated tests

Many software engineers have dismissed XP as a throw-out-the-rulebook, anything-goes technique. It isn't. As this book shows, XP is a deliberate and disciplined approach to software development. Many software engineers have reaped the benefits of this agile methodology because its emphasis on testing eliminates much of the risk inherent in software projects. XP helps developers produce software on time, under budget, and at a higher quality level. But you can't XP if you don't test. With this book as a guide, you will learn to embrace testing. A sound testing program is the engine that drives an XP project.

0321113551B09262002

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

This is a book about being a tester on an Extreme Programming (XP) team. It plugs a gap in the currently available XP materials by defining how an XP tester can contribute to the project, including what testers should do, when they should do it, and how they should do it. We are writing it because we think that XP is a better way to develop software and should be used by more teams. We believe that an acknowledged place in XP teams for testing and quality assurance will help bring that about.

Our goals in this book are to:
* Convince current XP practitioners that there is a valid role for a tester on the team
* Convince testing and quality assurance professionals that XP offers solutions to some of their worst problems
* Convince both groups that the testers are needed just as much as in an XP project as in a traditional development project
* Provide enough detail and practical example to allow you to either perform the XP tester role yourself or work productively with a tester on your team, whether you are an XP newbie or veteran, tester, programmer, guide, customer, or manager

We hope that if you are not currently using XP, that you can influence your own organization to try it. Even if your team uses some other process for software development, we think you can apply "extreme testing" practices to add value.

Because not everyone will be familiar with XP, we provide an overview of the basic concepts in the introduction, and describe a few aspects in more detail as necessary throughout the text. But this will be a bare-bones summary, at best, and there are several excellent books on the subject, as well as a wealth of information on the Web.

The book is divided into three major parts:Part I - The XP Tester Role

This is where we define what we think the tester role is (and is not), how a project will benefit from it, what is in it for the tester, and generally why XP needs a tester role. Part II - The XP Test Drive

Here we go through an XP project step by step and suggest what goals to shoot for, which activities to engage in, and helpful techniques to try as a tester on an XP project. Part III - Road Hazard Survival Kit

Finally we provide some resources to help you cope when the real world doesn't conform exactly to the ideal XP project. Large projects, for instance, where an XP team is imbedded in a larger, non-XP effort, or when critical XP practices are modified or omitted.

We've tried to keep the things as practical as possible, and provided real-life examples as well as exercises for you to try it out for yourself. The exercises are built around an XP project to develop a simple web-based tracking application, and we provide portions of the application at various stages for you to practice on.

We think you will find this book helpful if you are already a member of an XP team, or if you are a testing/quality assurance professional, or if you are in any software development role and considering XP.

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Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0321113551
• ISBN 13: 9780321113559
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320