Archive for the 'Book Reviews' Category

Book Review: Pragmatic Ajax - A Web 2.0 Primer by Gehtland, Galbraith and Almaer

The Ajax world moves really quickly, and has moved on a lot since the publication of this book, so much so that it could really do with a new edition. Fortunately, with the sub title “A Web 2.0 Primer”, we should expect an overview, and in some ways it doesn’t matter that we don’t […]

Book Review: Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael C. Feathers

In the foreword Robert Martin tells us that other patterns exist for preventing bad code, and this this book helps us reverse the rot, to “…turn systems that gradually degrade into systems that gradually improve.”
Since the provided definition of “Legacy code” describes “code without tests”, you can apply the approaches presented at any point in […]

Book Review: JUnit Recipes by J. B. Rainsberger, Scott Stirling

[amazon.com][amazon.co.uk]
‘ “Stop Debugging. Write a test instead” and here’s how’. That seems to sum up the book. Wether you use TDD or not, JUnit Recipes helps you get more out of JUnit - perhaps it will help you stave off a move to TestNG?
Contents include 130+ ’solutions’ for common tasks. If you check out […]

Book Review: The Craft of Software Testing by Brian Marick

When the author, Brian Marick, describes his own book as “somewhat dated…written in a less spritely manner than I’d use today… this is not how I do things today”, that doesn’t really add up to a particularly motivating sales pitch for the book.
My copy has the appearance of “printed on demand” - which […]

Book Review: Effective Software Testing by Elfriede Dustin

Now I’ve panned an Elfriede Dustin book before and then enjoyed another one. So thus far I have a 50/50 success rate so I pulled Effective Software Testing from the shelf, curious as to how I would react.
[amazon.com][amazon.co.uk]

Book Review: Software Testing Fundamentals by Marnie L. Hutcheson

Driven to provide ways of providing better information to her customers, Marnie Hutcheson has identified techniques for identifying and structuring her test scope to allow her to provide estimates, negotiate and agree a prioritised scope, and report progress against that. All of which sounds like the makings of a great book.
[amazon.com][amazon.co.uk]
 

Book Review: Testing Computer Software by Kaner, Falk, Nguyen

I thought I’d read this again for review purposes. I didn’t expect it to surprise me, but it did, massively.
One of the most realistic testing books available, starting almost immediately in the preface discussion "Its not done by the book". The book sets out its target audience as simply "the person doing the testing"
[amazon.com][amazon.co.uk]

Book Review: Systematic Software Testing by Rick Craig & Stefan Jaskiel

Anytime I approach a book now I try to get my initial prejudices and preconceptions sorted and out of my head to let me approach the book more clearly. My initial preconceptions of Systematic Software Testing have led to it sitting on my shelf for a long time. I’ve seen Rick lecture and he […]

Book Review: Software Testing by Ron Patton

This review actually covers the 1st edition, and not the current 2nd edition.
I read this a long time ago - made my notes and have subsequently lost them. So I start again.
My basic memory from the last time I read it recalled as: "a good book for beginners". So I’ll see what […]