Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams

Testing is a key component of agile development. The widespread adoption of agile methods has brought the need for effective testing into the limelight, and agile projects have transformed the role of testers. Much of a tester's function, however, remains largely misunderstood. What is the true role of a tester? Do agile teams actually need members with QA backgrounds? What does it really mean to be an "agile tester?" Two of the industry's most experienced agile testing practitioners and consultants, Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory, have teamed up to bring you the definitive answers to these questions and many others. In Agile Testing, Crispin and Gregory define agile testing and illustrate the tester's role with examples from real agile teams. They teach you how to use the agile testing quadrants to identify what testing is needed, who should do it, and what tools might help. The book chronicles an agile software development iteration from the viewpoint of a tester and explains the seven key success factors of agile testing. Readers will come away from this book understanding - How to get testers engaged in agile development - Where testers and QA managers fit on an agile team - What to look for when hiring an agile tester - How to transition from a traditional cycle to agile development - How to complete testing activities in short iterations - How to use tests to successfully guide development - How to overcome barriers to test automation This book is a must for agile testers, agile teams, their managers, and their customers.