Software Test Automation

Posted by Rich Crowley in books, Test Automation

Of the three testing books I read over the past few months, this one was the one that gave me the best overview of test automation as a discipline of its own.

What was interesting to me is that the book was written some time ago (1999) and in some places it feels “old”. However, the authors have spent considerable time in this area and are very articulate about the principles that govern automation and these principles seem to me to still apply today based on projects I manage.

While the high level principles are what guides the structure of the book, the book gets into considerable detail as well. There are excellent sections debunking myths about automation – for example, record and playback of test cases is not automation. Likewise the section on testware architecture is really good.

If you’re looking for a good grounding in automation as a starting point in either a project management capacity or general IT management capacity, this book is a good one. Read the table of contents and I’m sure you’ll be convinced.