Featured Sessions--Technical

The demand for software test automation tools and services continues to grow at a rapid pace of 30 percent or more per year as software engineers are faced with the need to perform testing more thoroughly and quickly than ever before. In addition, the complexity, scale, cost, and urgency of eBusiness has caused a frantic demand for improved quality and productivity with reduced cost and cycle time. In these featured sessions, take a look at the current tools, techniques, and methods available for automated testing of your software, and get a preview of emerging products, tools, and solutions. Experientially based, these presentations cover all areas of test automation—from load and performance testing to test environments to GUI (browser) and non-GUI (embedded) automation issues.

Indicates a presentation focused on Web/eBusiness.

T1  Wednesday, August 29, 10:45 a.m -- 11:30 a.m.

A Rigorous and Highly Effective Approach to Web Site Load Testing Roger Hayes, Keynote Systems The concept and practice of software load testing has been around for many years, but the advent and exponential growth of the Internet has created a situation that has taken the magnitude, complexity, and importance of load testing to a whole new level. Today, there are powerful load testing tools on the market, but if these tools are not applied properly, the results will be at best useless, and at worst, dangerous. In this presentation, learn how to leverage the power of modern load testing tools to avoid misleading conclusions. Discover how to obtain accurate and reliable results by applying a proven, rigorous, and methodical approach to the three phases of Web site load testing: planning, execution, and analysis.

T2 Wednesday, August 29, 11:45 a.m -- 12:30 p.m.

Establishing a Telecommunication Test Automation System Greg Glower, Software Development Technologies Building an environment to successfully test wireless intelligent network peripherals presents an array of complex problems to resolve. The target environment integrates various SS7 protocols, a proprietary protocol, and voice recognition subsystem—and requires a controlled and synchronized test environment. Learn how a test automation approach allows the software engineer control over the peripheral interfaces and provides for the testing of the entire call flow sequence, its initiation and consequential message traffic. Discover how this approach provides for function testing as well as scalability for automated performance, load, and stress testing.

T3  Wednesday, August 29, 2:00 p.m -- 2:45 p.m.

Choosing an Automated Web Application Testing Solution: What You Need to Know Yves de Montcheuil, Empirix, RSW Software Division The Internet has injected critical changes into how businesses must guarantee the quality of their enterprise applications. Automated testing tools are no longer optional for organizations that want to gain—and maintain—the highest level of quality control over their eBusiness applications. Selecting a Web testing tool is not an easy job in today’s fast-paced market.This presentation defines and discusses the top requirements for an automated testing solution in the Internet age. Discover why Web testing is different from Client/Server testing. Explore the points of failure and critical technologies to test in a Web application. Learn the key criteria to use when selecting a testing tool: ease of use, accuracy, and reporting.

T4 Thursday, August 30, 10:45 a.m -- 11:30 a.m.

Applying Development Best Practices to Automated Testing Andy Tinkham, Spherion Technology Architects Test automation is a specialized form of software development where executable code is produced for the validation and testing process. Many best practices have been identified to allow developers to code more quickly, efficiently, and correctly, but few test automators have adopted these practices. Learn about several of these “best practices”—including code reviews and coding standards—that can be applied to automated test development. Discover how you, as an automated test developer, can capitalize on the benefits provided by these practices.

T5 Thursday, August 30, 11:45 a.m -- 12:30 a.m.

Did Your Tests Pass or Fail? Answering with Automation Noel Nyman, Microsoft Automated tests using self-verifying data (SVD) can help determine if your query-type tests have the right information or if they are showing you the expected views. In this presentation, Noel Nyman provides a brief overview of an SVD testing method followed by a demonstration of automation techniques that allow you to run random tests on SVDs with millions of records or entries. Using applications such as Microsoft Office, learn how to adapt the techniques taught in this presentation to many different types of applications using most of the common automation tools.

T6  Thursday, August 30, 2:00 p.m -- 2:45 p.m.

Don't Forget to Test Your Web and Application Servers! Simon Berman, Mercury Interactive Make certain your storefront stays open for business! In this presentation, Simon Berman discusses the critical part that Web and application servers play in an Internet infrastructure. Discover why load testing the middle tiers of the Internet infrastructure can mean the difference between failure and success. Gain insight into testing the leading Web and application servers such as BroadVision, ColdFusion,WebLogic, WebSphere, Apache, and Netscape, and understand why they need to be load tested and tuned for the highest possible scalability before going live. Learn what users should look for and optimize when testing these servers.

T7 Thursday, August 30, 3:30 p.m -- 4:15 p.m.

Design for Testability Bret Pettichord, Pettichord Consulting How can software be designed or modified in order to make it easier to test? Bret Pettichord explains several design elements that have been used to improve software testability. These include test interfaces that facilitate automation and logging as well as diagnostic features that facilitate verification and analysis. He concludes by projecting how the software industry might learn from the history of design for testability in hardware.

T8 Thursday, August 30, 4:30 p.m -- 5:15 p.m.

Using a Test Lab Effectively Howie Dow, Compaq Computer Corporation “Outsourcing” testing—or use of external test labs to perform some or all of a testing effort—is becoming common within the software industry. Using a test lab has advantages as well as disadvantages. Advantages might include objectivity, expertise, specialization, and time to market. Some disadvantages may involve lack of familiarity with the software, geographic distance, and simply lack of control. Explore some of the technical issues that need to be examined to help you use a test lab effectively. Learn how to document your results, and discover the keys for success as well as the ingredients for failure.

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