Software Testing Foundations ─ A Study Guide for the Certified Tester Exam

Professional testing of software is an essential task that requires a profound knowledge of testing techniques. The International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) has developed a universally accepted, international qualification scheme aimed at software and system testing professionals, and has created the Syllabi and Tests for the "Certified Tester." Today about 300,000 people have taken the ISTQB certification exams.

The authors of Software Testing Foundations, 4th Edition, are among the creators of the Certified Tester Syllabus and are currently active in the ISTQB. This thoroughly revised and updated fourth edition covers the "Foundations Level" (entry level) and teaches the most important methods of software testing. It is designed for self-study and provides the information necessary to pass the Certified Tester-Foundations Level exam, version 2011, as defined by the ISTQB. Also in this new edition, technical terms have been precisely stated according to the recently revised and updated ISTQB glossary.

Topics covered:

1. Fundamentals of Testing
2. Testing and the Software Lifecycle
3. Static and Dynamic Testing Techniques
4. Test Management
5. Test Tools

Andreas Spillner is a professor of Computer Science in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Hochschule Bremen (University of Applied Sciences), where he is responsible for software engineering, quality assurance, and programming. He was a founding member and is now an honorary member of the German Testing Board e.V., and he was founder and chair of the German Special Interest Group on Software Testing (SIGIST, "Test, Analyse und Verifikation von Software") from 1990 to 2003. Prof. Spillner was appointed Fellow of the German Informatics Society (GI-Fellow) in 2007.

Tilo Linz has worked in the software quality assurance and testing field for more than 20 years. He is a founder and chairman of imbus AG, one of the leading service and product providers in this sector. In addition to his work at imbus, Linz focuses on vocational education and training opportunities for test experts. He helped initiate the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) and served as its president from 2002 to 2005. In 2002 he also founded the German Testing Board e.V. (GBT), where he was chairman on a voluntary basis until 2013. He is a co-author of Software Testing Practice:Test Management and four editions of Software Testing Foundations, and is the author of Testing in Scrum (to be released in 2014). He is ranked among the most renowned experts in the field of software testing.

Hans Schaefer is an independent consultant who lives and works in Norway, where he is considered a "testing guru." He is president of the Norwegian Testing Board and has been consulting and teaching software testing methods since 1984. He is involved in consulting, teaching, and coaching test process improvement and test design techniques, and he conducts software reviews in many countries.