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Test Automation

Tutorials

MI Software Design for Testability
Peter Zimmerer, Siemens AG
Mon, 06/08/2015 - 8:30am

Testability is the degree to which a system can be effectively and efficiently tested. This key software attribute indicates whether testing (and subsequent maintenance) will be easy and cheap—or difficult and expensive. In the worst case, a lack of testability means that some system components cannot be tested at all. Testability is not free; it must be explicitly designed into the system through adequate design for testability. Peter Zimmerer describes influencing factors (controllability, visibility, operability, stability, simplicity) and constraints (conflicting nonfunctional requirements, legacy code), and shares his experiences implementing and testing highly-testable software. Peter offers practical guidance on two key actions: (1) designing well-defined control and observation points in the architecture, and (2) specifying testability needs for test automation early. He shares creative and innovative approaches to overcome failures caused by deficiencies in testability. Peter presents a new and comprehensive strategy for testability design that you can implement to gain the benefits in a cost-efficient manner.

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TA Continuous Delivery: Rapid and Reliable Releases with DevOps SOLD OUT
Bob Aiello, CM Best Practices Consulting
Tue, 06/09/2015 - 8:30am

DevOps is an emerging set of principles, methods, and practices that enable the rapid deployment of software systems. DevOps focuses on lowering barriers between development, testing, security, and operations in support of rapid iterative development and deployment. Many organizations struggle when implementing DevOps because of its inherent technical, process, and cultural challenges. Bob Aiello shares DevOps best practices starting with its role early in the application lifecycle and bridging the gap with testing, security, and operations. Bob explains how to implement DevOps using industry standards and frameworks such as ITIL v3 (IT Service Management) in both agile and non-agile environments, focusing on automated deployment frameworks that quickly deliver value to the business. DevOps includes server provisioning essential for cloud computing in what is becoming known as Infrastructure as Code. Bob equips you with practical and effective DevOps practices—automated application build, packaging, and deployment—essential for meeting today's business and technology demands.

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Concurrent Sessions

BW4 Mobile App Testing: Design Automation Patterns You Should Use
Jon Hagar, Grand Software Testing
Wed, 06/10/2015 - 11:30am

In mobile app development, better test design is important to project velocity and user satisfaction. Jon Hagar explores underused or poorly practiced test design automation approaches that you should employ in development and testing. Jon begins by defining the domain of mobile app software and examines common industry patterns of product failures. He then shares three approaches you can use to speed development and improve quality for native, web-based, and hybrid apps. The methods examined—each supported with detailed checklists—are combinatorial testing, model-based testing, and user experience testing. Jon explains when, where, and how each testing approach can be used to support improved testing and to benefit the whole team. In addition to mobile apps, you and your team can use these same three approaches in other software environments to reduce technical debt during development.

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BT12 Prevent Test Automation Shelfware: A Selenium-WebDriver Case Study
Alan Ark, Eid Passport
Thu, 06/11/2015 - 1:30pm

Eid Passport had a suite of Selenium tests with a bad reputation—difficult to maintain, broken all the time, and just plain unreliable. A tester would spend more than four days to get through one execution and validation pass of these automated tests. Eid Passport was ready to toss these tests into the trash. Alan Ark volunteered to take a look at the tests with an eye toward showing that Selenium-based tests can, in fact, be reliable and used in the regression test effort. Alan shares techniques he used to transform a sick, test automation codebase into a reliable workhorse. These techniques include AJAX-proofing, use of the Page Object model, and pop-up handling. The test process that used to take more than four days to turnaround now finishes in under two hours. And this is just the beginning.

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