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Title: How to Break Software: A Practical Guide to Testing by James A. Whittaker ISBN: 0-201-79619-8 Publisher: Pearson Addison Wesley Pub. Date: 09 May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.4 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Perspective is everything
Comment: I think that this is an exceedingly useful book.
Most books that purport to be about testing are really about something else. They're generally about planning, or process, or mathematics, or graph theory. Often, they're about making models of software so that you can demonstrate that there are indeed jillions of paths through a given piece of software--hardly news to anyone who's bothered to think about it for a while. Sometimes they're about the underlying theory of the thing you're supposed to be testing, such as "Web applications" or "security". All of these are useful things to think about, to be sure. Many of these books are large, and this one is small. I would venture to say, though, that few books talk about actual bugs as much as this one does, and provide such entertaining, cringeworthy examples.
This book is about testing, and it's about thinking about testing. It provides a set of theories of error, and follows these with worked-out examples of using those theories of error to find bugs in real software. What a concept.
In some reviews of this book, you'll find pious pronouncements about process; you'll see one that complains that this book doesn't have anything about testing J2EE applications; or that this book somehow applies only to Microsoft software. Those reviews all represent valid points of view, equivalent to the valid point of view that Moby Dick is a book about a big fish.
Some of the information presented is quite basic. Mind, as a tester, testing trainer, and user of software, I've seen a lot of software--a LOT of software--not Microsoft products, some written in Java, built with well-defined process... but some pretty basic bugs. Mission to Mars, anyone?
Some reviews also seem to believe that there is One True Way to develop and test software. That may be true, though I doubt it. But either way, it's unquestionably true that the followers of The One True Way are in the extreme minority, and the rest of us testers have to live by our wits, work under pressure in chaotic organizations, and find important bugs quickly.
The book inspired me to think about the way that I approach a piece of software that I haven't seen before. I know some things about the underlying operating system (whatever it may be); I know something about the way data is represented in binary coding systems (whichever one might be in use at the time); I know something about the construction of programs (irrespective of the programming language); I know something about the way the program interacts with humans and other software. I also know something about the way programs and programmers can screw up--that is, I know something about certain risks. As a real tester in the real world, sometimes that and the program are all I have to work with. Nonetheless, I can use those things to find bugs effectively. Besides, even if I do have a specification, it's invariably incomplete, or wrong, or out of date, or so thick as to be unreadable in the time I have to test.
The book is fun to read, too--some of the fun is in the Microsoft-inspired schadenfreude, and some is the relaxed, conversational style of the writing. One nice notion expressed in the book is getting together with other testers and talking about bugs for fun. Good point--I believe that people learn more easily when they're talking to each other and having fun.
So this book helped me by providing an example of a taxonomy of software interfaces and theories of error, and ways of attacking the software based on those interfaces and theories. I have my own theories of error, and my own models, too; this book helped me to think about them and refine them. It's not the One True Way of Software Testing. Good thing, too: there isn't one.
Don't get me wrong: I would love to have a perfectly written specification to which the software completely conformed. If I were confident that such a thing were possible, I would never have to test; by that fantastic definition, the software would work perfectly.
A good book should help and inspire you to think for yourself. If your mind is closed to extending the ideas in this book (or any other), you probably won't like it much--but then you probably won't be able to function very well when you move to a different development culture. That is (sad to say) you won't be a very good tester when you leave your cocoon. In fact, if your mind is closed, you're probably not a very good tester now.
On the other hand, I believe that this book is very useful if you keep your mind open, accept its lessons and examples, and apply them to your own projects, your own environment, and your own thinking. We need more testing books like it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Solid, hard-core testing book. Pleasant and easy to read
Comment: This testing book is NOT just about targeting boundary conditions, although I can see how people with no insight can perceive it as such... Testing is about knowing the environment; knowing the system. This book as opposed to most of the software testing books out there, focuses on this model.
Usually to achieve this goal, a writer would need over 500 pages, yet Whittaker does it in 200 and most important in a fast and hands-on fashion.
This book is a perfect introduction to any software tester. Its a jump start to better code coverage. Whittaker doesn't go deep into subjects; he just gives you enough info so that you can go and explore by yourself.
I've successfully applied these techniques for both Windows and Unix systems. This book is great to understand software: both the OS and user applications. What more can you ask for 200 pages? 5/5 because of such good content in such little space.
Rating: 1
Summary: Don't waste your money on this book.
Comment: I completely agreed with the review from M. K. Jones.
The techniques that were taught in this book can be easily summarized in three words: "Boundary Conditions Checking"
The author seems to believe that this is what software testing is all about. If you hold the same testing philosophy as the author, this probably is the right book for you.
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Title: Lessons Learned in Software Testing by Cem Kaner, James Bach, Bret Pettichord ISBN: 0471081124 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 15 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
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Title: How to Break Software Security by James A. Whittaker, Herbert H. Thompson, Herbert Thompson ISBN: 0321194330 Publisher: Pearson Addison Wesley Pub. Date: 09 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Testing Computer Software, 2nd Edition by Cem Kaner, Jack Falk, Hung Q. Nguyen ISBN: 0471358460 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 12 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Managing the Testing Process: Practical Tools and Techniques for Managing Hardware and Software Testing, 2nd Edition by Rex Black ISBN: 0471223980 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 19 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Effective Software Testing: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Testing by Elfriede Dustin ISBN: 0201794292 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 18 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $34.99 |
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