Richard Denney

Use Case Levels of Test: a Four-step Strategy for Budgeting Time and Innovation in Software Test Design Richard Denney

Publisher Marketing: Every student in school - from elementary to graduate - is familiar with the angst of taking tests, hearing the dreaded line "Times up, put your pencils down!," followed by the that feeling of regret as you think "If only I hadn't spent so much time on that one question!" I'd like you to consider that writing tests for software is a bit like taking tests in school. Both are tasks typically done in a finite, allotted amount of time, so it's best to have a strategy for using your time wisely, and knowing what techniques work well (or don't!) on various problem types. Innovation and ways of working smarter often arise from the "cross-pollination" of ideas from multiple disciplines of software engineering. This book presents a four-step strategy to budgeting time and innovative test design based on the idea of use case levels of test combined with high bang for the buck ideas from software testing, Quality Function Deployment (QFD), software reliability's operational profiles, Structured Analysis and Design's C. R. U. D. matrix, and formal methods like model-based specification, Programming in Logic (Prolog) and discrete math for testers. The goal of this "cross-pollination" is to provide you the tester with a strategy such that when you hear "Times up, put your pencils down!," you can relax knowing you have used your time for writing tests for your system or application wisely. Contributor Bio:  Denney, Richard Richard Denney is a software quality consultant with more than twenty-five years of experience in software development and process management. Denney has been a principal in process improvements for the oil industry' s two largest suppliers of software solutions, Schlumberger and Landmark Graphics (a Halliburton company), and as an affiliate consultant with TeraQuest Metrics, Inc. (part of Borland Software Corporation). Based in Austin, TX, Denney holds B. A. and M. S. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, and is certified through the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). For supplemental information or to contact the author, visit http: //www.software-quality-consulting.com.© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.