Adventures in Session-Based Testing
James Lyndsay, Niel van Eeden · 2003
Biographies James Lyndsay is an independent test consultant with ten years experience. Specialising in test strategy, he has worked in a range of businesses from banking and telecoms to the web, and pays keen attention to the way that his clients ' focus is shifting away from functional testing. Niel vanEeden has a background in mechanical engineering, IT hardware, software and retail. Since relocating to the UK from his native South Africa, he has worked in customer facing roles and in software quality, and has been involved in testing at JobPartners since May 2000. In January 2001 he became the test manager, and is currently responsible for product quality. Abstract This paper describes the way that a UK company controlled and improved ad-hoc testing, and was able to use the knowledge gained as a basis for ongoing, product sustained improvement. It details the session-based methods initially proposed, and notes problems, solutions and improvements found in their implementation. It also covers the ways that the improved test results helped put the case for change throughout development, and ways in which the team has since built on the initial processes to arrive at a better testing overall. Session-based testing can be used to introduce measurement and control to an immature test process, and can form a foundation for significant improvements in productivity and error detection.