Section V - Some Final Thoughts

Appendix List

Appendix A: Brown & Donaldson Case Study

Appendix B: Stateless University Registration System Case Study

Overview

Your Testing Toolbox

My oldest son Shawn is a glazier—he installs glass, mirrors, shower doors, etc. He is an artist in glass. As a father, I decided it would be good to know what my son does for a living, so I rode with him in his truck for a few hours watching him work.

At the first job site he pulled out a clipboard with a work order that told him what was needed. He hopped out and walked around to the back of the truck. There, he grabbed his tool bucket (an old five-gallon paint bucket) and rooted around through it. He pulled out some tools, walked up to the house, did his magic, came back to the truck, put the tools in the bucket, and away we went. At the second job site he repeated the process. Once again, he pulled out the clipboard, hopped out, walked around to the back of the truck, grabbed his tool bucket, and rooted around through it. He pulled out some tools, but different tools this time, walked up to the house, did his magic, came back to the truck, put the tools in the bucket, and away we went. As we went from job to job it occurred to me that all good craftspeople, including software testers, need a bucket of tools. In addition, good craftspeople know which tool to use in which situation. My intent in writing this book was to help put more tools in your personal testing tool bucket and to help you know which tool to use in which situation. Remember, not every tool needs to be used every time.

Now, it's up to you. The next level of skill comes with practice. Famous educator Benjamin Bloom created a taxonomy for categorizing levels of competency in school settings. The first three levels are:

• Knowledge
• Comprehension
• Application

This book has focused on knowledge and comprehension. The "application" is up to you.

Best wishes in your testing ...

References

Bloom, Benjamin S. (1969). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Longman Group.