Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams

Part IV gets into the details of when and why to automate, how to overcome barriers to test automation, and how to develop and implement a test automation strategy that works for your team. Because test automation tools change and evolve so rapidly, our aim is not to explain how to use specific tools, but to help you select and use the right tools for your situation. Our agile test automation tips will help you with difficult challenges such as testing legacy code.

The chapters are as follows:

Chapter 13: Why We Want to Automate Tests and What Holds Us Back

Chapter 14: An Agile Test Automation Strategy

Part V: An Iteration in the Life of a Tester

If you just want to get a feel for what testers do throughout the agile development cycle, or you need help putting together all the information in this book, go to Part V. Here we chronicle an iteration, and more, in the life of an agile tester. Testers contribute enormous value throughout the agile software development cycles. In Part V, we explain the activities that testers do on a daily basis. We start with planning releases and iterations to get each iteration off to a good start, and move through the iteration—collaborating with the customer and development teams, testing, and writing code. We end the iteration by delivering new features and finding ways for the team to improve the process.

The chapters break down this way:

Chapter 15: Tester Activities in Release or Theme Planning

Chapter 16: Hit the Ground Running

Chapter 17: Iteration Kickoff

Chapter 18: Coding and Testing

Chapter 19: Wrap Up the Iteration

Chapter 20: Successful Delivery

Part VI: Summary

In Chapter 21, “Key Success Factors,” we present seven key factors agile teams can use for successful testing. If you’re having trouble deciding where to start with agile testing, or how to work on improving what you’re doing now, these success factors will give you some direction.

Other Elements

We’ve also included a glossary we hope you will find useful, as well as references to books, articles, websites, and blogs in the bibliography.

Just Start Doing It—Today!

Agile development is all about doing your best work. Every team has unique challenges. We’ve tried to present all the information that we think may help agile testers, their teams, managers, and customers. Apply the techniques that you think are appropriate for your situation. Experiment constantly, evaluate the results, and come back to this book to see what might help you improve. Our goal is to help testers and agile teams enjoy delivering the best and most valuable product they can.

When we asked Dierk König, founder and project manager of Canoo WebTest, what he thought was the number one success factor for agile testing, he answered: “Start doing it—today!” You can take a baby step to improve your team’s testing right now. Go get started!

Acknowledgments

So many people have helped us with this book that it’s hard to know whom to thank first. Chris Guzikowski gave us the opportunity to write this book and kept encouraging us along the way. When we were deciding whether to take on such a mammoth task, Mike Cohn gave us the sage advice that the best reason to write a book is that you have something to say. We sure have lots to say about agile testing. Fortunately, so do lots of other people who were willing to lend us a hand.

Many thanks to Brian Marick and Mike Cohn for writing such kind forewords. We’re honored that Mike selected our book for his signature series. We’re grateful for the many ideas and observations of his that are included in this book.

Brian Marick’s “Agile Testing Matrix” has guided both of us in our agile projects for several years, and it provides the core of Part III. Thank you, Brian, for thinking up the quadrants (and so many other contributions to agile testing) and letting us use them here.

We made constant use of the agile value of feedback. Many thanks to our official reviewers: Jennitta Andrea, Gerard Meszaros, Ron Jeffries, and Paul Duvall. Each one had unique and insightful comments that helped us greatly improve the book. Gerard also helped us be more consistent and correct in our testing terminology, and contributed some agile testing success stories.

Special thanks to two reviewers and top-notch agile testers who read every word we wrote and spent hours discussing the draft chapters with us in person: Pierre Veragen and Paul Rogers. Many of the good ideas in this book are theirs.