The Web Testing Handbook

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 432 pages
• Published by: S T Q E Pub January 15, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0970436300
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0970436306
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 1.7 pounds

Product Review
wonderful job of condensing all of the major areas of knowledge required for Web testing in a very effective format. -- Alberto Savoia, Chief Technologist, Keynote Systems, Inc.

Product Description
The Web Testing Handbook is the definitive resource for testing Web sites and Internet-based applications. Many developers and testers are making the transition from traditional Client/Server, PC, and/or Mainframe systems to testing rapidly changing Web sites and applications. The Web Testing Handbook can help make this transition easier by explaining these new technologies and suggesting test cases and techniques that can be included in a Web site's Functional, Performance, Compatibility, and Usability test plans. Readers will gain an invaluable overview of the most common technologies being used to build Web sites and applications. You will learn proven tips and techniques for testing these Web technologies, obtain a reference of representative Web testing tools, and explore numerous case study checklists that demonstrate effective Web site/application testing. The companion Web site featured in The Web Testing Handbook opens a window into a hands-on, interactive Web testing environment. Readers who put into practice the testing tips and techniques covered in this book will gain real-world Web testing experience.

Reader Reviews
When looking into books for any tech-related topic, I look for two qualities to assess the value of the book. The first is the depth of the subject matter of the work. I look for books that teach me new technologies, technique, or process. The second is the book's lasting value as a reference for future work. When spending money, I'd like to be sure that the lasting value of the book is at least potentially there. This book has neither of those qualities, here's why: - Depth of Subject Matter - It's difficult to determine who this book is written to educate. The forward identifies the audience as existing software testers looking for education in the finer points of web software testing. That's legitimate, but it falls far short of this or any other unstated goals. The delivery of material in this work is quick and dirty. There's no topic that extends beyond a single-digit number of pages. This makes plenty of sense in the early chapters where the discussion of things like hardware compatibility are discussed. Other areas deserve far better coverage. The topics of browser compatibility, performance testing, and scalability testing, for example, are scantly explained. It's a disservice to the reader, since these are paramount topics for the intended audience. Another downfall to this approach is its failure to discuss the organizational differences between an IT team deploying software frequently versus one deploying incremental releases on a yearly timeframe. To be fair, the authors touch on this topic, but it's nothing comprehensive. - Reference Value - The reference value of this book is almost zero. I run a test team for a web based business of considerable size, and I have to say I found some actually misleading advice in the work. A lot of the explanations of what's smart and what's avoidable fall completely off the mark. Even worse, and this is actually enough of a reason to start looking for a different book right away, is the poor quality of the references throughout the book. While they spend some considerable time explaining the difference between the time in a normal software development cycle and one that operates under 'web time', they cite sources from two and three years ago that are completely irrelevant considering the widespread and fundamental changes to the online software development domain. They establish 'web time' as an accelerated, hectic calendar where nothing is the same after two months of churning, but then cite references from 1999 market research studies to back up their points. Though definitely not intentional, it's very neglectful. I turned to the front of the book at one point to re-verify the copyright date. ... So, for me and for my needs, this book is essentially worthless and I'm sad to have spent [$$] to learn this. The topics are covered only as summaries, but those that deserve and in some cases completely require a much deeper explanation are treated similarly. Regarding the intended audience, it's still a head scratcher because of the delivery of the material. It's not heavy in any one area, so it's difficult to determine if this is for a QA manager (can't work, not enough attention to process), the new tester (can't work, not enough detail on the actual testing), the converting tester (might work, but the high-level descriptions coupled with the indescriminate delivery of the subjects would confuse anyone without due insight), or the experienced web tester (can't work, too much of the data is elementary to those already functioning as a tester in the web space). I don't suggest it, and I wouldn't suggest it in a future edition if they work to update the references.