Automation

Conference Presentations

Standards for Test Automation-A Case Study

Implementing a set of automation standards adopted and followed by the test team will benefit everyone. This presentation discusses methods of creating and implementing standards, guidelines, and practices for teams of testers writing automated tests. Learn about decisions that can be made early in the product cycle that will have a long-term impact. Explore examples of systems that have worked well--and those that have not.

Brian Tervo, Microsoft Corporation
Software Test Automation: Planning and Infrastructure for Success

Automation tools are often viewed as a cure-all that will instantly reduce test cost and effort. However, without up-front planning and infrastructure design, automated tests can quickly become difficult to create and maintain, and the tools nothing more than expensive shelf ware. This paper describes how to initiate a successful automation effort by developing standards and processes for automation and an infrastructure designed for success.

Bill Boehmer and Bea Patterson, Siemens Building Technologies, Inc.
Performance Testing 101

Organizations are often so eager to "jump in" and use load testing tools that the critical steps necessary to ensure successful performance testing are sometimes overlooked-leading to testing delays and wasted effort. Learn the best practices and tips for successful automated performance testing in areas such as assembling a proper test team, planning, simulating a production environment, creating scripts, and executing load tests.

David Torrisi, Mercury Interactive
Automated Test Results Processing

This paper introduces techniques used to automate the results analysis process. It examines the analysis of
crash dump files and log files to extract consistent failure summaries and details, showing how these are
used in problem reporting. It then studies the practical application of Automated Test Results Processing
at Mangosoft Incorporated and presents data showing the impact this has had in product testing.

Edward Smith, MangoSoft Corporation
Targeted Software Fault Insertion

Since the completely random software fault insertion techniques suggested in much of the research literature are not practical for most software products, this paper suggests that a modest targeted software fault insertion effort for a few common error conditions can have a dramatic impact on defect detection rates and quality. The paper uses the example of a software fault insertion subsystem, codenamed Faulty Towers, which was added to Mangosoft Incorporated’s test automation in order to target
common failures and errors.

Paul Houlihan, MangoSoft Corporation
Results From Inspecting Test Automation Scripts

In many ways, development of scripts for automated testing is similar to software development. It involves requirements, design, code, test, and use. So why not use proven improvement activities to enhance the test script development process? This presentation discusses how one software test team adjusted and applied inspections to test script development. Learn the results of these inspections and how you might use this technique to improve the test script development activity in your organization.

Howie Dow, Compaq Computer Corporation
White-Box Testing: What Your Developers Don't Want You to Know

In this presentation, John Peraza describes how to use white-box testing to discover those defects that would otherwise remain undetected if you only conducted black-box testing. Learn various techniques-including test coverage, run-time memory leak detection, dynamic bounds checking, and code assessment for internationalization-that you can use to conduct white-box testing. Discover how BMC Software has benefited from including white-box testing in its quality assurance efforts.

John Peraza, BMC Software, Inc.
Managing Test Automation Projects

Automation has three dimensions (organizational, process, and technical), and you should adopt a three-part solution: match skills to tasks; define requirements, environment, and hand-off; and adopt an automation approach and architecture.

Linda Hayes, WorkSoft, Inc.
Succeeding with Automation Tools

The problems with using record/playback as your only test automation strategy are well known. But the other option-full script programming-is unattractive to many due to its high cost and long development time. This presentation discusses a strategy called defensive programming that incorporates the best of both worlds. Learn how to leverage your automation tool with simple implementation techniques to create robust test suites.

Jamie Mitchell, BenchmarkQA
Advanced Data Driven Testing (ADDT)

Learn how the Convergys Test Automation Team developed an Advanced Data Driven Testing (ADDT) approach using a test automation engine. Gain insight into how this technique was successfully implemented to improve the reliability and quality of their software products and reduce the number of testing man-hours. Shakil Ahmad gives a high-level description of the engine design, functionality, and benefits as he shares his company's successes-and frustrations.

Shakil Ahmad, Convergys

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