Automated Testing Life-cycle Methodology (ATLM)

• Elfriede Dustin, 
       BNA Software (Bureau of National Affairs)

Audience: 
            Software Testers
            Managers of Software Testing
            Managers of Automated Testing

About the Presentation | About the Presenter | Buy the Book | About the Book

Due to ongoing remodeling at the Southdale library, the meeting room is not available, so we have temporarily moved to the Ridgedale library. While this location is not as convenient for many of our members, this month's speaker and topic make this meeting worth any extra effort to attend.

About the Presentation:

How test teams introduce an automated software test tool on a new project is nearly as important as the selection of the most appropriate test tool for the project. A tool is only as good as the process being used to implement the tool.

Over the last several years test teams have largely implemented automated testing tools on projects, without having a process or strategy in place describing in detail the steps involved in using the test tool productively. This approach commonly results in the development of test scripts that are not reusable, meaning that the test script serves a single test string but cannot be applied to a subsequent release of the software application. In the case of incremental software builds and as a result of software changes, these test scripts need to be recreated repeatedly and must be adjusted multiple times to accommodate minor software changes. This approach increases the testing effort and brings subsequent schedule increases and cost overruns.

By developing and following a strategy for rolling out and implemented an automated test tool as part of the Automated Testing Life-cycle methodology, the test team can avoid having to make major unplanned adjustments throughout the test process. The presentation "Automated Software Testing" addresses these various issues and their solutions. The focus is on:

• Best practices for test automation
• A Case Study will be presented that covers how the ATLM was implemented on one particular project:
• Acquiring management support
• Test tool evaluation and selection
• The automated testing introduction process
• Various tools used during the various life-cycle phases
• Test planning and preparation
• Test procedure development guidelines
• Automation reuse analysis and reuse library

This presentation will describe how various tools fit the stages of the Automated Testing Life-cycle methodology.

About the Presentation | About the Presenter | Buy the Book | About the Book

About the Presenter:

Elfriede Dustin is a test manager supporting the testing of tax management systems at BNA Software (Bureau of National Affairs). She is the lead author of the best-selling book "Automated Software Testing", published in July 1999. The book has been getting excellent reviews throughout the testing community.

In support of software test efforts, Elfriede has been responsible for implementing automated test, or has performed as the lead consultant guiding the implementation of automated software test.  She has lead the successful rollout of automated testing tools at three companies, and has applied her rollout strategy on over nine different projects.

Elfriede has a BS degree in Computer Science and is a SQA Certified test engineer. She is also the president of the Washington, DC area Rational Testing User Group.

Elfriede wrote the feature article for the Software Testing and Quality Engineering magazine (www.stqemagazine.com) Sep/Oct 99 issue, called "Lessons in Test Automation - A manager's guide to avoiding pitfalls when automating testing ".

About the Presentation | About the Presenter | Buy the Book | About the Book

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Buy the Book:

"Automated Software Testing", Elfriede Dustin, et al, copyright AWL, all rights reserved, ISBN 0-201-43287-0.

The book can be ordered today via TCQAA's link into Fatbrain.   Simply enter ISBN number 0-201-43287-0 into the "Enter Keywords" field and click the "Quick Search" button. Readers with questions and comments may contact the authors via their home page at http://www.autotestco.com/. Also visit the web site to obtain more information on automated software testing and to identify resources that are available to support automated software testing programs

About the Presentation | About the Presenter | Buy the Book | About the Book

About the Book:

The book Automated Software Testing, published by Addison Wesley, is a new book on the market supporting the pragmatic concerns and information needed by the software test engineer/manager who faces the necessity of performing testing more thoroughly and quickly.   Automated Software Testing is the number one selling software testing book addressing test automation. Rational Corporation recently adopted the book and the automated test lifecycle methodology (ATLM) as part of the Rational Unified Process.

The book addresses the challenge for today's software professionals who are faced with real schedule deadlines and need to introduce, manage, and perform automated testing on a project. The book addresses automated testing within a both client-server or web environment.  The book focuses on the pragmatic concerns and information needed by the software test professional, while these same concerns may apply to the software developer who has the responsibility for development testing (that is, unit and integration testing) and, on some projects, system testing.

Automated Software Testing concentrates on the concerns of the software test professional within the framework of an Automated Test Life-cycle Methodology (ATLM). ATLM is a structured methodology geared toward ensuring successful implementation of automated testing. The ATLM approach mirrors the benefits of modern, rapid application development efforts, where such efforts engage the user early in the development cycle. The end user of the software product is actively involved throughout analysis, design, development, and test of each software build, which is augmented in an incremental fashion.

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About the Presentation | About the Presenter | Buy the Book | About the Book