|
|
Virtualization: The Path to Multiple Efficiencies Many teams test software on a wide variety of operating system and hardware environment configurations. Traditionally, they use dozens-sometimes hundreds-of machines in their offices and test labs to get the job done. The cost of maintenance of the machines, electrical costs (including power and cooling), and the physical space occupied by the machines all contribute to a budget that can quickly head into the stratosphere. Alan Page describes how leveraging multiple virtual machines on a single host machine will mitigate these budget issues. He shares case studies that show how teams at Microsoft use virtualization to reduce maintenance costs, electrical costs, and machine usage. Alan describes other distinct advantages of virtualization they have discovered, including automatic setup of network topologies. Take back proven tips on when virtualization can benefit you-and, as importantly, when it won't help at all.
|
Alan Page, Microsoft
|
|
|
STARWEST 2009: Performance Engineering: More Than Just Load Testing Performance testing that is only done at the last minute, just prior to launch, is not the right approach for systems that are highly complex with many opportunities for bottlenecks. Rex Black discusses a different approach-performance engineering-that is far more than performing load testing during the system test. Performance engineering takes a broad look at the environment, platforms, and development processes, and how they affect a system's ability to perform at different load levels on different hardware and networks. Performance engineers use a process to conduct a series of performance tests throughout development and after deployment. This includes performance modeling, unit performance tests, infrastructure tuning, benchmark testing, code profiling, system validation testing, and production support.
|
Rex (Red) Black, Expedia, Inc.
|
|
|
Testing the Client and the Cloud Today, a large portion of computing is moving off the desktop, out of the organization, and into the cloud. Services such as SalesForce.com, Microsoft's Online Businesses, and Oracle's On Demand provide both IT and line-of-business application support outside the corporate IT infrastructure. Amazon.com's S3 service and Microsoft's Azure platform provide cloud infrastructures while Google Apps and Star Office are attempting to supplant the classic desktop applications. With this technology shift, the techniques, tools, and even the role of testing are rapidly evolving. Ken Johnston describes the keys to testing success with software and systems that have migrated to the cloud. Ken describes efficient ways to test service infrastructures, the intersection of test automation with monitoring, and the challenges of testing while systems are in production.
|
Ken Johnston, Microsoft Corporation
|
|
|
Automating Web Testing with cURL and Perl With little or no budget to acquire test automation tools for Web applications, many testers think there is nothing they can do to replace manual tests with automated ones. Not true! Paco Hope introduces two free tools-cURL and Perl-and explains how you can use them to design both positive (functional) and negative (security) test cases. cURL is a free program that helps automate HTTP, HTTPS, and other common types of Web commands. Perl is a well-known programming language well-suited for writing test scripts. Paco describes the basics of automating tests with these tools and explores the automation complexity that these tools help solve. He demonstrates how a few simple commands can generate thousands of test cases, whether your Web platform is Java EE, .NET, or something else. Leave with an understanding of scripting basics and a list of resources you can turn to for learning more about free Web test automation tools.
|
Paco Hope, Cigital, Inc.
|
|
|
The Role of the Analyst in Testing Although many organizations ask their analysts to do double-duty as testers, this presents a number of challenges. Because the majority of defects have their basis in requirements errors and omissions, the authors of those requirements-the analysts-should not be the ones to design tests of their own work. However, Dick Bender believes there is a significant role that analysts, partnering with testers, can play in your projects. Using examples from a variety of industries, Dick describes how analysts can use their skills and domain knowledge to provide unique insights into the system within the testing effort. Learn how analysts and testers can partner to focus on requirements validation early in the project to move many user acceptance testing activities earlier in the project-before coding starts. Discover ways analysts can participate later in the project to assess the completeness and usability of the system under test.
|
Richard Bender, Bender RBT, Inc.
|
|
|
The Journey From Chaos to Credibility Many test organizations believe a new methodology or test automation architecture is necessary to fix problems and make significant improvements in how the business values testing. Molly Mahai proves this assumption wrong as she describes one test team's journey from chaos to credibility. She describes how they overcame the challenges of mistrust between development and test, and management’s skepticism and distrust. By using the techniques of empowerment, coaching, delegation, and some creative group activities, Molly illustrates how small changes-implemented over time-resulted in dramatic improvements for the test team and the overall organization. These changes helped foster an environment where developers and testers work together and management trusts the test group’s work and their assessments. These techniques are easy to apply and require neither more budget nor management approval.
|
Molly Mahai, Arizona State Retirement System
|
|
|
STARWEST 2009: Testing AJAX Applications Because Web application development using AJAX, REST, and service-oriented architectures is expanding at a breakneck pace, testers must learn to develop unit tests, functional tests, and load tests for these environments. At the same time, even though IT budgets are tighter than ever before, testing cannot be compromised. But there is some good news-open-source test tools can offer a strong alternative to traditional, commercial testing tools. Frank Cohen demonstrates how to navigate the new possibilities offered by open source. He shows how to apply a proven methodology to find and solve scalability, performance, and reliability issues in AJAX applications. Learn how to construct a functional unit test for a business flow, identify ways to create operational test data at run time, validate test responses, and automate the entire test.
|
Frank Cohen, PushToTest
|
|
|
Free and Cheap Test Tools Too often, testers have limited money, time, or both to purchase, learn, and implement the robust commercial test tools available today. However, as a tester, one of the best things you can have is your own personal testing toolkit. Since 2001, Randy Rice has been researching free and inexpensive test tools and has compiled a set of tools that have been a great help to him and many others. Randy presents an overview of these tools that can add power and efficiency to your test planning, execution, and evaluation. He presents and demonstrates tools that can be used for pairwise test design, test management, defect tracking, test data creation, test automation, test evaluation and Web-based load testing. Learn how you can use these tools together to achieve a combined effect of greater test speed and better test coverage-at little or no out-of-pocket cost.
|
Randy Rice, Rice Consulting Services, Inc.
|
|
|
What Would MacGyver Do? Remember the old MacGyver TV series? Each week, the hero solved difficult problems by combining his knowledge of applied science with everyday items such as baking soda, paper clips, and chewing gum. Test automation is currently in a rut and needs some of that outside-the-box thinking. When most testers think about automation, they think of regression scenarios and capture/replay tools. However, regression testing is the weakest, most insipid form of automation around! Regression tests are costly to maintain, rarely find important bugs, and are often obsolete by the time they are checked into the test case manager. If you are interested in approaching test automation from a fresh direction, join Harry Robinson in this innovative session and learn to create "freestyle test automation" from simple elements such as idle test machines, free programming tools and, yes, a bit of creative test thinking.
|
Harry Robinson, Microsoft
|
|
|
Effective and Efficient Testing: Reality or Myth? To management, testing often never formally finishes-it just stops. And even before testing stops, we are asked to ensure that our efforts are providing maximum value. However, can we ever really have both efficient and effective testing? More importantly, can we accurately measure effectiveness and efficiency? In the current economic climate, when many test managers have been told to do even more testing with the same or fewer people and resources, the answer to this question is even more important. Lloyd Roden uncovers ways to measure test effectiveness and efficiency and to report these measures to stakeholders with the power, certainty, and confidence that demonstrate the true value testing has within your organization.
|
Lloyd Roden, Grove Consultants
|
