Course: ISEB Foundation - Software Testing

This three-day course includes the one-hour certification exam on the last afternoon. This is the first formal qualification available in the field of software testing and is a forerunner to, and a pre-requisite for, the Intermediate and Practitioner Certificates.

This course is intensive and fast paced. It includes a number of student-based exercises to enforce the principles being taught. Students will be required to revise course material in their own time on the first two evenings of the course. Revision time is also given prior to the examination.

Course Objectives:

 • To improve understanding of software testing - its purpose and nature - and to raise awareness of issues and constraints around testing;
• to provide a professional qualification widely recognised by employers, customers and peers;
• to introduce test techniques (static, white box and black box) to delegates as well as providing practical experience of some key techniques;
• to learn standard terminology;
• to provide a complete picture of the test activities and processes from requirements review to system implementation; and
• to discover good sources of information.

Who Should Attend?

The following is taken from the ISEB guidelines surrounding the eligibility and appropriateness of the qualification and the associated course.

• those who wish to demonstrate that they have a basic knowledge of software testing fundamental principles and terminology;
• those who have at least a minimal background in either software development or software testing, such as
a few months experience as a system or user acceptance tester or a few months experience as a software developer;
• managers who wish to understand software testing better;
• those who have studied some computer science, programming or testing at 'A' level or beyond; and
• those who are prepared to work hard to assimilate the information required to pass the exam.

The qualification is not for:
• those completely new to computing; and
• those wishing to start a career in software testing, without any previous background or experience.

If you are completely new to software testing, it is recommended that you start with a one-day overview of testing and then gain a few months experience before attempting this qualification.

The course leading to the Foundation Certificate is fairly intensive, as there are a lot of topics to cover from the Foundation Syllabus.  Potential attendees should be aware that there is a lot of terminology and facts that need to be learned in order to pass the exam.’

Part 1 - Principles of testing:
• introduction, bibliography, testing terminology;
• why is testing necessary?
• how much testing is enough?
• the fundamental test process;
• the psychology of testing;
• re-testing and regression testing;
• expected results; and
• prioritisation of tests.

Part 2 - Testing through the life cycle:
• testing and the development life cycle (models for testing and the economics of testing);
• the high-level (or master) test plan; and
• phases of testing: component testing, integration testing in the small, functional and non-functional system testing, integration testing in the large, acceptance testing and maintenance testing.

Part 3 – Static testing:
• reviews and the test process;
• types of review; and
• static analysis.

Part 4 - Test techniques:
• test techniques and the life cycle;
• black box test techniques:  equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis;
• white box test techniques: statement and branch/decision testing; and
• error guessing.

Part 5 - Test management:
• organisation;
• configuration management;
• test estimation, monitoring and control;
• incident management; and
• standards for testing.

Part 6 - Tool support for testing:
• types of CAST tool; and
• tool selection and implementation.

Examination coaching.

ISEB Foundation Examination.