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9 May 2023 09:00-16:30Convendum

Rapid Software Testing Focused: Strategy

Countless thousands of people create test cases and perform testing on products in the software industry. Yet few of us, when challenged, can concisely and compellingly explain why we chose to do these tests instead of those tests. This leads to testing that is wasteful, unagile, and disrespected. Good test strategy solves that problem.

Strategy is a heuristic, not a document. Strategy in general is the set of ideas that guide your designs, your choices, and your actions. Test strategy is the set of ideas that guide our choices about what testing to do and how to do it. Knowing how to construct, explain, and critique a test strategy is the gateway to credibility as a tester.

This seminar focuses on strategy as it relates to testing generally, and to how strategy fits within the Rapid Software Testing methodology. We look at strategy from a social and general systems perspective. Although we won’t focus on risk analysis in this class, we will look at how risk maps to strategy and to test activities.


Goals of RSTF-Strategy

  • The primary goal of this seminar is show you how to confidently apply strategic thinking to testing; and to design, explain, and defend a test strategy.
  • A secondary goal is to extend your understanding of Rapid Software Testing methodology

    Who Should Take This Training

    This Rapid Software Testing Focused class is for you if you are a tester, developer, or manager and at least one of the following apply:

    • You are responsible for test strategy in your project.
    • You lead people who are responsible for test strategy in your project.
    • You want to learn how to be responsible for test strategy in your project.
    • You are struggling to explain and defend the focus of your software testing.
    • You are concerned that your testing may not be oriented on finding the bugs that really matter.

    Main Topics Covered

    The general topics we’ll cover include:

    • Why testing needs strategy.
    • What sort of ideas comprise test strategy.
    • Testing as experimentation.
    • How to think about testability and why it matters for test strategy.
    • Risk-based strategy vs. coverage-based strategy.
    • The role of tools in a good test strategy.
    • How to invent test techniques.
    • Families of test techniques that feature in test strategy.
    • General strategy heuristics, such as alternation, focusing, and defocusing.
    • Simple ways to document test strategy.

    During the class you will perform analysis on at least one product, and develop a strategy for testing it.

    During the seminar we strive to accommodate students’ specific needs and questions in class discussions and lectures.


     How RSTF Compares To RSTE

    • Rapid Software Testing Explored (RSTE) presents the methodology of Rapid Software Testing with brief practical exercises and Socratic discussion. It is a foundational class that is good to take before RSTF. Although RSTE does cover test strategy in general, this class focuses entirely on strategy.



    Schedule

    08:30

    Registration and breakfast

    09:00

    Session: 1

    10:15

    Morning coffee Break

    10:30

    Session: 2

    12:00

    Lunch

    13:00

    Session: 3

    14:30

    Afternoon Coffee Break

    14:45

    Session: 4

    16:00

    Time for discussion and Cheack-out

    16:30

    End of course

    Teacher

    Michael Bolton

    Michael Bolton is a consulting software tester and testing teacher who helps people to solve testing problems that they didn’t realize they could solve. In 2006, he became co-author (with James Bach) of Rapid Software Testing (RST), a methodology and mindset for testing software expertly and credibly in uncertain conditions and under extreme time pressure. Since then, he has flown over a million miles to teach RST in 35 countries on six continents.Michael has over 30 years of experience testing, developing, managing, and writing about software. For over 20 years, he has led DevelopSense, a Toronto-based testing and development consultancy. Prior to that, he was with Quarterdeck Corporation for eight years, during which he managed the company’s flagship products and directed project and testing teams both in-house and around the world.

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    Course Information

    The course will start at 9:00 and end at 16:30, lunch is included.

    All course material will be provided.
    For attendees, please bring a laptop, you will be testing.

    Welcome!