TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: techwr-l digest: August 09, 2001 From:Sean MacRae <sean -at- rcp -dot- co -dot- uk> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 15 Aug 2001 10:24:22 +0100
Bill,
I can recommend "Software Testing in the Real World" by Ed Kit.
Addison-Wesley, 1995; ISBN 0-201-87756-2. It's a good, practical
introduction to all aspects of testing.
Elsewhere in the list, Megan Golding mentioned Steve McConnell's "Software
Project Survival Guide" -- I heartily agree. See the web site as well
(http://www.construx.com/survivalguide/).
War stories? Not yet. Advice? Try to get your development process to involve
QA as early as possible -- reviewing (validating) early design documents is
a QA activity. Plus, test specs should really be written alongside the
relevant design documents -- the system design is used to specify
integration tests, the description of proposed functionality (functional
specification) is used to specify system tests, etc.
Naturally, this assumes that the developers stick to the design documents,
and tell you of any changes so you can keep your tests in synch...
You're normally lucky if they tell each other of any changes they make...
Cheers,
Sean M.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: From TWer to QAer and tester
> From: "Bill McClain" <bmcclain -at- ibss -dot- net>
> Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 13:43:00 -0400
> X-Message-Number: 62
>
> At my new project, I now have to pinch-hit as a software QA
> tester, and
> the field is totally new to me. I don't know what I don't know but
> *should* know to be able to create test plans and test software
> effectively. The project manager is counting on leveraging
> my hard-won
> expertise (ummmyeahright) to use in designing and executing effective
> and comprehensive tests of the software's functionality.
>
> Have any of you Whirlers had to adjust to doing QA? Can you point me
> toward resources, online and otherwise, that will be useful in helping
> me understand my new field better? Do you have any worthwhile war
> stories or cautionary tales?
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
