Andreas Spillner - Software Testing Foundations: A Study Guide for the Certified Tester Exam

Andreas Spillner is a professor of Computer Science in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Bremen University of Applied Sciences. For more than 10 years, he was president of the German Special Interest Group in Software Testing, Analysis, and Verification of the German Society for Informatics. He is a honorary member of the German Testing Board. His work emphasis is on software engineering, quality assurance, and testing.

Tilo Linz is CEO of imbus AG, a leading service company for software testing in Germany. He is president of the German Testing Board and was president of the ISTQB from 2002 to 2005. His work emphasis is on consulting and coaching projects on software quality management, and optimizing software development and testing processes.

Hans Schaefer is an independent consultant in software testing in Norway. He is president of the Norwegian Testing Board. He has been consulting and teaching software testing methods since 1984. He organizes the Norwegian Special Interest Group in Software Testing for Western Norway. His work emphasis is on consulting, teaching, and coaching test process improvement and test design techniques, as well as reviews.

A Study Guide for the Certified Tester Exam

• Foundation Level
• ISTQB compliant

4th Edition

Andreas Spillner
Tilo Linz
Hans Schaefer

)

Tilo Linz ()

Hans Schaefer ()

Editor: Dr. Michael Barabas

Copyeditor: Judy Flynn

Translator: Hans Schaefer

Layout: Josef Hegele

Project Manager: Matthias Rossmanith

Cover Design: Helmut Kraus, www.exclam.de

Printer: Sheridan

Printed in the USA

ISBN 978-1-937538-42-2

4th Edition

2014 by Spillner, Linz, Schaefer

Rocky Nook Inc.

802 East Cota St., 3rd Floor

Santa Barbara, CA 93103

www.rockynook.com

This 4th English book edition conforms to the 5th German edition Basiswissen Softwaretest Aus- und Weiterbildung zum Certified Tester Foundation Level nach ISTQB-Standard (dpunkt.verlag GmbH, ISBN: 978-3-86490-024-2), which was published in September 2012.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Spillner, Andreas.
Software testing foundations / by Andreas Spillner, Tilo Linz, Hans Schaefer. -- Fourth edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-937538-42-2 (paperback)
1. Computer software--Testing. 2. Computer software--Verification. 3. Computer software--Evaluation. I. Linz, Tilo.
II. Schaefer, H. (Hans) III. Title.
QA76.76.T48S66 2014
005.1'4--dc23
2013045349

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Worldwide success

In most industrialized countries, the Certified Tester has gained acceptance as a training and education tool for testers. At the end of 2013, the number of certified testers worldwide was more than 300,000. Chris Carter, president of the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB), says this: I think the scheme has been so successful because we freely offer our syllabi and glossary to the public, which helps to standardize professional terminology. We also offer certifications at a range of levels, from foundation through advanced to expert, allowing testing professionals to be supported right through their careers and keeping them up-to-date with the worlds best practices.

Certified Testers in some countries

There are more than 20,000 Certified Testers in Germany, more than 1,000 in Norway, and more than 2,000 in Sweden. Even the small country of Iceland has over 100 Certified Testers. In more and more countries, being a Certified Tester is a prerequisite to being employed in testing or to be a contractor in testing services.

A 2011 poll (taken in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria) revealed that nearly 75% of the people asked know the ISTQB scheme. More than 70% of them already have a Foundation Level Certificate. About 90% said the training was helpful.

Ten-year anniversary of the German version of this book

The first version of this book was published in German in 2002. The first English edition was published in 2006. The German issue is in its 5th edition and the English version is in its 4th edition. This book conforms to the ISTQB syllabus Certified Software TesterFoundation Level version 2011. Most major changes planned for the 2015 version have been included and are specially marked.

Ten years is a long time in the IT industry; new developments and paradigms are encouraged and used, and new and improved tools are available. On the other hand, there is some basic knowledge in computer science that does not change. In this book, we have concentrated on generic knowledge and techniques. We have not described techniques whose benefits are yet unknown, or techniques that have to show their practical validity and applicability. The same is true about special disciplines in testing; testing of web applications, testing in agile projects, or testing of embedded or mobile systems, for example. These techniques are not part of the standard foundations. There is other literature about such specialized areas.

Books for the advanced level

The Certified Tester training scheme consists of three levels (see ). Besides the foundation knowledge (Foundation Level) described in detail in this text, books are also available from Rocky Nook for the syllabus for the Advanced Level. These books are available:

• The Software Test Engineers Handbook [] (for Test Analyst and Technical Test Analyst)
• Advanced Software TestingVol. 1 3 []

Syllabi for the Expert Level also exist: Improving the Test Process. The syllabi for Test Automation and Security Testing are currently being finished.