Better Software Magazine Articles

Man and Machine: Combine the Human Mind with Test Automation Tools

Instead of viewing software test automation as an effort to replace manual tests think of it as a means to extend the abilities of the tester. Combining the power of the human mind with automation tools helps fuel observation and discovery and provides a different perspective of the software under test.

Jonathan Kohl's picture Jonathan Kohl
Behind the Scenes

Have you ever found a major defect while testing an unfamiliar system and been unable to explain exactly how you found it? The Framework for Exploratory Testing can help. These four activities help you explain your thought processes and allow you to train others to be better exploratory testers.

Erik Petersen's picture Erik Petersen
Pairwise Testing: An Easy Guide to Orthogonal Arrays & All-Pairs Combinations

One of the testing challenges we face is how to handle the large numbers of test cases we sometimes need to create and execute. We can't test everything, but pairwise testing using orthogonal arrays or an all-pairs algorithm can help generate pair combinations that reduce the number of test cases we run while still finding a large percentage of bugs.

Lloyd Roden
Navigating the Installation

If you've ever popped a CD into a drive and run an install for software you're about to test, then you might be performing installation testing indirectly. If not properly installed, an application could give false results for all other testing. A better strategy is to test the install process directly, which will give you greater confidence in the quality of your software.

Karen N. Johnson's picture Karen N. Johnson
Test to Impress: Getting the Most Out of Ajax Developer Tools

Ajax applications are very popular and can be flexible and dynamic, but only if you find the bugs first. Stuart Halloway has the details on tools that Ajax developers use and that will keep your applications dressed to the nines.

Stuart Halloway
From Primitive to Prominent: The Past, Present, and Future of Automated Code Analysis

Automated code analysis tools are becoming more powerful and more necessary than ever before. Alberto Savoia takes a look at the evolution of static and dynamic code analysis tools, from their humble beginnings to their present status as indispensable technology, and tells us what he predicts for the future.

Alberto Savoia
A Look at Administrator's Pak by Winternals

Find out more about this suite of utilities that allows testers to repair locked-out systems, restore lost data, remove malware, and much more.

Marnie Hutcheson
Leveraging Inspections

You can improve your inspection process, moving from 50 percent to as much as 90 percent defect removal before entering test. Learn how to record and analyze the right data.

Ed Weller's picture Ed Weller
Release Criteria: Is This Software Done?

For any project, the big question is: "Is this software ready to release yet?" Explore how to answer that question with confidence, by learning how to define success and how to gain consensus on release criteria.

Johanna Rothman's picture Johanna Rothman
What's With These Buffer Overrun Bugs?

Many of the culprits responsible for security breaches found on corporate networks and the Internet today have used buffer overrun problems as the main way to exploit the system. Here is an examination of buffer overrun bugs and how to prevent them.

Bob Johnson

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