Common System and Software Testing Pitfalls: How to Prevent and Mitigate Them: Descriptions, Symptoms, Consequences, Causes, and Recommendations

&n> Foreword xiii Preface xvii About the Author xxiii Chapter 1: Overview 1 1.1 What Is Testing? 1 1.2 Testing and the V Models 2 1.3 What Is a Defect? 5 1.4 Why Is Testing Critical? 7 1.5 The Limitations of Testing 9 1.6 What Is a Testing Pitfall? 10 1.7 Categorizing Pitfalls 11 1.8 Pitfall Specifications 11 Chapter 2: Brief Overviews of the Testing Pitfalls 13 2.1 General Testing Pitfalls 13 2.1.1 Test Planning and Scheduling Pitfalls 13 2.1.2 Stakeholder Involvement and Commitment Pitfalls 14 2.1.3 Management-Related Testing Pitfalls 14 2.1.4 Staffing Pitfalls 15 2.1.5 Test-Process Pitfalls 16 2.1.6 Test Tools and Environments Pitfalls 17 2.1.7 Test Communication Pitfalls 18 2.1.8 Requirements-Related Testing Pitfalls 19 2.2 Test-Type-Specific Pitfalls 20 2.2.1 Unit Testing Pitfalls 20 2.2.2 Integration Testing Pitfalls 20 2.2.3 Specialty Engineering Testing Pitfalls 21 2.2.4 System Testing Pitfalls 22 2.2.5 System of Systems (SoS) Testing Pitfalls 22 2.2.6 Regression Testing Pitfalls 23 Chapter 3: Detailed Descriptions of the Testing Pitfalls 25 3.1 Common Negative Consequences 25 3.2 General Recommendations 26 3.3 General Testing Pitfalls 28 3.3.1 Test Planning and Scheduling Pitfalls 28 3.3.2 Stakeholder Involvement and Commitment Pitfalls 44 3.3.3 Management-Related Testing Pitfalls 51 3.3.4 Staffing Pitfalls 65 3.3.5 Test Process Pitfalls 75 3.3.6 Test Tools and Environments Pitfalls 106 3.3.7 Test Communication Pitfalls 131 3.3.8 Requirements-Related Testing Pitfalls 143 3.4 Test-Type-Specific Pitfalls 164 3.4.1 Unit Testing Pitfalls 164 3.4.2 Integration Testing Pitfalls 169 3.4.3 Specialty Engineering Testing Pitfalls 177 3.4.4 System Testing Pitfalls 206 3.4.5 System of Systems (SoS) Testing Pitfalls 211 3.4.6 Regression Testing Pitfalls 225 Chapter 4: Conclusion 241 4.1 Future Work 241 4.2 Maintaining the Lists of Pitfalls 242 Appendix A: Glossary 243 Appendix B: Acronyms 253 Appendix C: Notes 255 Appendix D: REFERENCES 269 Appendix E: Planning

Donald G. Firesmith is senior member of technical staff in the Software Solutions Division at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). There, he helps the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies acquire large, complex, software-reliant systems. An internationally recognized software and systems engineering expert, he has published books on requirements engineering, architecture engineering, situational method engineering, testing, and object-oriented development.