Thursday, June 30, 2016

A few shorter testing books for the 30 day testing challenge

Thought I'd whip up a few recs for shorter testing books for the 30 Day Testing Challenge, which kicks off with buying a book on testing to read by day 30. Please add your own suggestions in the comments! 



The Little Black Book of Test Design by Rikard Edgren
29 pages not including bibliography.
Packs in a lot of ideas despite its size. Well worth reading for inspiration and an insight into how a very experienced and skilled tester thinks about designing tests, and really at this size, you have no excuse not to.

Explore It! by Elizabeth Hendrickson
186 pages
In my opinion, this is _the_ exploratory testing book. If you have never read a book about software testing, then buy this. Hendrickson starts by presenting a really nice way to create charters for your exploration, moves on into observation, modelling the product you're working with, and finishes up with descriptions of exploration in context, demonstrating how broadly you can apply the techniques you learn in this book. Well written and engaging throughout. 


50 quick ideas to improve your tests by Gojko AdzicDavid EvansTom Roden 
198 pages
This is a lovely browsing book - lots of neat ideas, each one covered in 2-4 pages. It's aimed at cross-functional teams, and assumes you are using user stories, and delivering in iterations - if you're not working in that environment then you may find some value, but a lot is likely to be difficult for you to apply. Ideas range across how to work more effectively together, to designing better checks, testability, and managing large automated test suites. 

Perfect Software, and Other Illusions about Testing by Gerald Weinberg
182 pages
This is the ideal book to get _other_ people to read. Like your CTO. It explains some of the common myths and misconceptions people have about what testing can achieve. A good antidote for addicts of Magic Testing Pixie Dust (i.e. those who believe sprinkling a bit of testing pixie dust on at the end will magically fix a broken project.) That doesn't mean you won't enjoy reading it yourself, but it's one you'll want to share.

Edited to add:

Remaining relevant and employable in a changing world by Rob Lambert
166 pages

This is about taking control of your career - how to find good jobs, demonstrate your skills effectively in an interview, join testing communities and network.