Review By: Noreen Dertinger
12/16/2011

Considering a career as a tester at Microsoft is not a prerequisite to picking up a copy of How We Test Software at Microsoft. What sparked my own interest in this book is that I like to read the stories of successful individuals and organizations, draw upon their successes, and learn from their shortcomings.

How We Test Software at Microsoft is written by three prominent software test professionals: Alan Page, Ken Johnston and Bj Rollison. Together, these professionals have formulated a volume of sound advice and techniques that will enable readers to expand or update their testing knowledge.

The book is divided into four main parts: About Microsoft, About Testing, Test Tools and Systems, and About the Future. Part one will familiarize readers with Microsoft products, engineers, testers, the role of test, and the tools that Microsoft commonly uses. The three chapters that make up this section are especially useful to professionals who are thinking of pursuing a career with Microsoft. (For those interested in learning more about the evolution of Microsoft, I also highly recommend the book Idea Man by Paul Allan.) Other readers may wish to skip ahead to part two.

Those who do read part one will most likely find that, in general, the underlying business framework is similar to their own environments with some variation in how the philosophies are implemented. Chapter 1 explores the goals, values, and mission and Microsoft’s approach to them. In chapter 2, Ken Johnston describes the software testing profession at Microsoft and how it has evolved. I was interested to learn that Microsoft (founded in 1975) did not hire its first tester—Lloyd Frink, a young high school intern—until 1979 and its first wave of testers until 1985. Testing as a career path was implemented at Microsoft in the late 1980s. Chapter 3 covers engineering lifecycles, the most important message of which is that it is essential to know what development model is being used and at what stage of the model the project is in.

The heart of How We Test Software at Microsoft is contained in parts two (About Testing) and three (Test Tools and Systems). Herein is an overview, with supporting examples, of approaches to testing and testing tools. While the material is specific to Microsoft, it does provide a framework for those looking for one book with information about how some key techniques can be applied. Readers will be able to customize the knowledge and apply it in their own testing environments. Many references to other key testing books and websites have been provided by the authors.

Some of the topics covered in parts two and three include: good test case design (fundamental to the success of software releases); functional testing techniques, such as equivalence class partitioning, boundary value analysis, and combinatorial analysis; structural testing techniques (white box design approaches); analyzing risk with code complexity; and model-based testing.

Part three contains material that most testers will likely already be familiar with and have systems in place for. Topics covered include: tools and techniques to manage bugs and test cases; test automation; non-functional testing, including areas such as security, performance, usability, and stress testing; and other tools including source code control and generating the builds for test.

The concluding section contains thoughts for the future. Readers may find that they already have familiarity with some of these thoughts, given that How We Test Software at Microsoft was published in 2009 and technology evolves rapidly.

I highly recommend How We Test Software at Microsoft as a well written volume and look forward to future publications by these authors. As an experienced tester, it provided me with a refresher and with insights on new techniques I may be able to use in my own test environment in the future. For aspiring or new test professionals, I believe How We Test Software at Microsoft provides a solid roadmap to success in their careers.