Automation

Better Software Magazine Articles

Scripted Validation

David Bennett discusses how scripted validation helped revolutionize his organization's software development efforts. This article contains a sample script.
David M. Bennett
June 26, 2002
A Race with Only Losers

Collectively, problems related to resource sharing in multi-threaded, multi-processor, and distributed systems are termed "concurrency problems." Concurrency problems are further divided into several major subcategories such as deadlock, livelock, priority inversion, starvation, and race conditions. This article will focus on race conditions.
Dave Cline
June 26, 2002
A Look at Network Testing with NIST Net

Gene Sally looks at network testing with NIST Net. He concludes that NIST Net is a powerful tool, allowing you to emulate network conditions seldom occurring in your lab but nonetheless prevalent in the real world. You can reproduce the conditions in which your application fails, easing diagnosis and repair.
Gene Sally
June 26, 2002
How to Avoid Getting Burned by Your CD Release

Despite the risks, many companies do not have a formal release process. This article will guide you through some simple steps to verify your software prior to release.
George Hamblen
June 26, 2002
Automating Testing

Brian Marick gives a simplified history of test automation tools and provides a list of test automation links.
Brian Marick
June 26, 2002
Nightly Builds: A Tester's Early Warning System

We're all looking for an effective "Distant Early Warning" line of testing: a procedure that will minimize integration bugs, reduce the risk of low quality by allowing bugs to be caught early, make it easier to debug, and improve the visibility of the status of the system under test. One practice that meets those needs is the "nightly"—essentially a daily build and sanity test of the product.
Carla Oexmann
June 26, 2002
The Bug You're Most Likely to Miss

We all miss some bugs, but the bug you're most likely to miss is one that gives wrong results that might look right. Let's look at a famous and costly example, then we'll see what we can do during testing to avoid a similar disaster.
Bob Stahl
June 26, 2002
Bret Pettichord on Test Automation

Here is Bret Pettichord's collection of the most influential papers, books, and Web sites on software test automation. One benefit of reviewing various reports is that you're more likely to find one that is close to your own situation. All of these reports come from people who've done the work and have reported honestly about it.
Bret Pettichord's picture Bret Pettichord
June 26, 2002
A Look at PREfix by Intrinsa

PREfix provides a source code simulation tool that is able to perform automatic review for a wide range of programming defects that lead to program crashes. Defects reported by PREfix include de-referencing NULL pointers, using uninitialized memory, leaking memory or resources, or using illegal values. Here is an analysis of the product.
Rodney Wilson
June 26, 2002
A Look at TestTrack Pro by Seapine Software

Michele Rigney finds that Seapine's TestTrack Pro has added value to her company's products by providing a centralized system that captures the wants and needs of clients. Issues are tracked from initial report through resolution and release, and all the steps along the way are documented.
Michele D. Rigney
June 26, 2002

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