Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams

As Agile methods have entered the mainstream, weve learned a lot about how the testing discipline fits into Agile projects. Lisa and Janet give us a solid look at what to do, and what to avoid, in Agile testing.
Ron Jeffries, www.XProgramming.com

An excellent introduction to agile and how it affects the software test community!
Gerard Meszaros, Agile Practice Lead and Chief Test Strategist at Solution Frameworks, Inc., an agile coaching and lean software development consultancy

In sports and music, people know the importance of practicing technique until it becomes a part of the way they do things. This book is about some of the most fundamental techniques in software developmenthow to build quality into codetechniques that should become second nature to every development team. The book provides both broad and in-depth coverage of how to move testing to the front of the development process, along with a liberal sprinkling of real-life examples that bring the book to life.
Mary Poppendieck, Author of Lean Software Development and Implementing Lean Software Development

Refreshingly pragmatic. Chock-full of wisdom. Absent of dogma. This book is a gamechanger. Every software professional should read it.
Uncle Bob Martin, Object Mentor, Inc.

With Agile Testing, Lisa and Janet have used their holistic sensibility of testing to describe a culture shift for testers and teams willing to elevate their test effectiveness. The combination of real-life project experiences and specific techniques provide an excellent way to learn and adapt to continually changing project needs.
Adam Geras, M.Sc. Developer-Tester, Ideaca Knowledge Services

On Agile projects, everyone seems to ask, But, what about testing? Is it the development teams responsibility entirely, the testing team, or a collaborative effort between developers and testers? Or, How much testing should we automate? Lisa and Janet have written a book that finally answers these types of questions and more! Whether youre a tester, developer, or manager, youll learn many great examples and stories from the real-world work experiences theyve shared in this excellent book.
Paul Duvall, CTO of Stelligent and co-author of Continuous Integration: Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk

Finally a book for testers on Agile teams that acknowledges there is not just one right way! Agile Testing provides comprehensive coverage of the issues testers face when they move to Agile: from tools and metrics to roles and process. Illustrated with numerous stories and examples from many contributors, it gives a clear picture of what successful Agile testers are doing today.
Bret Pettichord, Chief Technical Officer of WatirCraft and Lead Developer of Watir

Lisa Crispin (Castle Rock, CO) has been a tester on agile web development teams since 2000, following many years of experience testing and programming on more traditional teams. She participates actively at agile and testing conferences, user group meetings, and seminars throughout the U.S. and Europe, helping agile teams identify better ways to add value through testing. She co-authored Testing Extreme Programming (Addison-Wesley). Janet Gregory (Calgary, Canada) has helped introduce XP practices as Coach, Iteration Manager and Tester. She holds a Computing Science degree from the University of Alberta, and ASQ Quality Management Certification.

Foreword by Mike Cohn      xxiii
Foreword by Brian Marick      xxv
Preface      xxvii
Acknowledgments      xxxvii
About the Authors      xli

Part I: Introduction      1
Chapter 1: What Is Agile Testing, Anyway?      3
Agile Values 3
What Do We Mean by Agile Testing? 4
A Little Context for Roles and Activities on an Agile Team 7
How Is Agile Testing Different? 9
Whole-Team Approach 15
Summary 17

Chapter 2: Ten Principles for Agile Testers      19
Whats an Agile Tester? 19
The Agile Testing Mind-Set 20
Applying Agile Principles and Values 21
Adding Value 31
Summary 33

Part II: Organizational Challenges      35
Chapter 3: Cultural Challenges      37
Organizational Culture 37
Barriers to Successful Agile Adoption by Test/QA Teams 44
Introducing Change 49
Management Expectations 52
Change Doesnt Come Easy 56
Summary 58

Chapter 4: Team Logistics      59
Team Structure 59
Physical Logistics 65
Resources 66
Building a Team 69
Summary 71

Chapter 5: Transitioning Typical Processes      73
Seeking Lightweight Processes 73
Metrics 74
Defect Tracking 79
Test Planning 86
Existing Processes and Models 88
Summary 93

Part III: The Agile Testing Quadrants      95
Chapter 6: The Purpose of Testing      97
The Agile Testing Quadrants 97
Knowing When a Story Is Done 104
Managing Technical Debt 106
Testing in Context 106
Summary 108

Chapter 7: Technology-Facing Tests that Support the Team       109
An Agile Testing Foundation 109
Why Write and Execute These Tests? 112
Where Do Technology-Facing Tests Stop? 119
What If the Team Doesnt Do These Tests? 121
Toolkit 123
Summary 127

Chapter 8: Business-Facing Tests that Support the Team      129
Driving Development with Business-Facing Tests 129
The Requirements Quandary 132
Thin Slices, Small Chunks 144
How Do We Know Were Done? 146
Tests Mitigate Risk 147
Testability and Automation 149
Summary 150

Chapter 9: Toolkit for Business-Facing Tests that Support the Team       153
Business-Facing Test Tool Strategy 153
Tools to Elicit Examples and Requirements 155
Tools for Automating Tests Based on Examples 164
Strategies for Writing Tests 177
Testability 183
Test Management 186
Summary 186

Chapter 10: Business-Facing Tests that Critique the Product    ...