Risk Based E-Business Testing (Artech House Computer Library,)

430 Pages·2002·2.65 MB·English

by  Paul Gerrard

Risk-Based E-Business Testing
ForalistingofrecenttitlesintheArtechHouseComputingLibrary,
turntothebackofthisbook.
Risk-Based E-Business Testing
Paul Gerrard
Neil Thompson
Artech House
Boston (cid:149) London
www.artechhouse.com
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Gerrard,Paul.
Risk-basede-businesstesting/PaulGerrard,NeilThompson.
p. cm.(cid:151)(ArtechHousecomputinglibrary)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN1-58053-314-0(alk.paper)
1.Electroniccommerce(cid:151)Management. 2.Riskmanagement.
I.Thompson,Neil. II.Title. III.ArtechHousecomputinglibrary.
HF5548.32.G468 2002
658.8(cid:146)4(cid:151)dc21 2002074496
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Gerrard,Paul
Risk-basede-businesstesting.(cid:151)(ArtechHousecomputinglibrary)
1.Computersystems(cid:151)Testing 2.Riskmanagement 3.Electronic
commerce(cid:151)Computernetworks
I.Title II.Thompson,Neil
005.1(cid:146)4
ISBN1-58053-314-0
CoverdesignbyIgorValdman
Microsoft(cid:210) screenshotsreprintedbypermissionfromMicrosoftCorporation.
Netscapebrowserwindow(cid:211) 2002NetscapeCommunicationsCorporation.Usedwithper-
mission.NetscapeCommunicationshasnotauthorized,sponsored,endorsed,orapproved
thispublicationandisnotresponsibleforitscontent.
'2002ARTECHHOUSE,INC.
685CantonStreet
Norwood,MA02062
Allrightsreserved.PrintedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.Nopartofthisbook
may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, in-
cludingphotocopying,recording,orbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,with-
outpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
Alltermsmentionedinthisbookthatareknowntobetrademarksorservicemarkshave
been appropriately capitalized. Artech House cannot attest to the accuracy of this informa-
tion.Useofaterminthisbookshouldnotberegardedasaffectingthevalidityofanytrade-
markorservicemark.
InternationalStandardBookNumber:1-58053-314-0
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2002074496
10987654321
Tomyfamily:Julia,Max,andLizzie
(cid:151)Paul
Tothememoryofmyfather,whoservedthepublicwithinformation
inthedaysbeforetheWebandknewthemeaningofquality
(cid:151)Neil
Toallthosetesterswhodothebestjobtheycan,
butalwaysthinktheyshouldbedoingmore
(cid:151)PaulandNeil

Contents
Preface xix
Audience xxi
Structure xxi
TheWebSite xxv
References xxv
Acknowledgments xxvii
PartI TheRisk-BasedTestingApproach 1
1 IntroductiontoRisk-BasedTesting 3
RiskyProjectFoundations 3
PressuresonTestingandQualityAssurance 5
TheTester(cid:146)sManifesto 6
TextbookTestingandtheRealWorld 7
TheRisksofEarlyRelease 9
WhatIsRisk? 11
AreRisksWrong? 11
TheDefinitionofRisk 12
vii
viii Risk-BasedE-BusinessTesting
InfluencesonOurUnderstandingofRisk 13
TheDefinitionofRiskWeUseinThisBook 14
ProductRiskandTesting 16
WhatIsaProduct? 17
WhatIsTesting? 18
References 19
2 RiskManagementandTesting 21
RiskWorkshops 22
RiskIdentification 23
RiskAnalysis 25
AssessingConsequence 25
AssessingProbability 27
DoRiskNumbersMeanAnything? 30
RiskExposure 31
RiskResponsePlanning 31
InformationBuyingandTesting 32
ProcessModelandTesting 33
RiskResolutionandMonitoring 34
SummaryofTesting(cid:146)sRiskManagementRole 34
References 35
3 Risk:ABetterLanguageforSoftwareTesting 37
DifficultQuestionsforTesters 38
HowMuchTestingIsEnough(ToPlan)? 39
WhenShouldWeStopTesting? 42
WhenIstheProductGoodEnough? 43
WhoDecides? 45
TheClassicSqueezeonTesting 47
HowGoodIsYourTesting? 47
Contents ix
ADefinitionofGoodTesting 49
References 50
4 Risk-BasedTestStrategy 51
FromRiskstoTestObjectives 52
Risks,TestObjectives,andCoverage 54
TheW-ModelExtendstheV-ModelofTesting 56
MasterTestPlanning 60
FailureModeandEffectsAnalysis 60
TheRisk-BasedTestProcessMethod 61
Stage1:RiskIdentification(Columns1,2) 63
Stage2:RiskAnalysis(Columns1(cid:150)5) 64
Stage3:RiskResponse(Columns6(cid:150)15,etc.) 64
Stage4:TestScoping(Columns1,2,8(cid:150)15,etc.) 67
Stage5:TestProcessDefinition(Columns8(cid:150)15,etc.) 69
MethodGuidance 70
Aren(cid:146)ttheRiskNumbersMeaningless? 70
WhatIfParticipantsCan(cid:146)tAgree? 71
WhatIfaTestObjectiveIsUnachievable? 72
WhatIftheTestingWillCostTooMuch? 73
Shouldn(cid:146)tWeAutomaticallyIncludeSimpleTests? 73
Don(cid:146)tForgetGenericTestObjectives 74
RisksandExploratoryTesting 75
Risk-andBenefit(cid:150)BasedTestReporting 76
References 80
PartII Risk-BasedE-BusinessTesting 83
5 E-BusinessandtheConsequencesofFailure 85
E-Business,E-Commerce,andEverythingE 85
ATypicalWebExperience 86
WebSiteFailuresandTheirConsequences 88
E-BusinessMaturityandRisk 89
x Risk-BasedE-BusinessTesting
WebTimeandOtherChallengestoTesters 90
RiskyProjectsandTesting 92
References 92
6 TypesofWebSiteFailures 93
WebSiteAsRetailStore 94
NoSecondChances 95
ManyoftheRisksAreOutsideYourControl 96
UnlimitedPotentialUsers 96
ManyPotentialPointsofFailure 96
YouHaveNoControloverClientPlatforms 97
YouHaveNoControloverClientConfiguration 97
WhichBrowsersDoYouSupport? 98
YourUsersMayNotHavetheRequiredPlug-Ins 99
TheContextofWebTransactionsIsaRiskArea 99
CookiesCanBeaProblem 100
NetworkConnections 100
FirewallsMayGetintheWay 101
AnyoneCanVisit 101
UsabilityIsNowaPrimeConcern 101
Localization 102
TheSequenceofPointsofFailureinaWebService 102
7 E-BusinessTestStrategy 105
SpecializedKnowledgeandE-BusinessTesting
Techniques 105
TestingConsiderations 106
DeveloperTesting 106
ConsiderUsingTestDrivers 106
Configurations 108
WebConventionsandAccessibility 108
UsingaTestProcessFrameworktoBuildYour
TestStrategy 110