The Tester's Pocketbook

This little book has two aims.

The first aim is to provide a brief introduction to the discipline called testing. Have you just been told you are responsible for testing something? Perhaps it is the implementation of a computer system in your business. But you have never done this sort of thing before! Quite a lot of the information and training on testing is technical, bureaucratic, complicated or dated. This Pocketbook presents a set of Test Axioms that will help you determine what your mission should be and how to gain commitment and understanding from your management. The technical stuff might then make more sense to you.

The second aim of this Pocketbook is to provide a handy reference, an aide memoire or prompter for testing practitioners. But it isn’t a pocket dictionary or summary of procedures, techniques or processes. When you are stuck for what to do next, or believe there’s something wrong in your own or someone else’s testing or you want to understand their testing or improve it, this Pocketbook might be of help. It will prompt you to ask some germane questions of yourself, your team, your management, stakeholder or supplier.