Software Testing: Standards, Certifications, and Resources
Software Testing – UTest Promotional Video
Not long ago I thought software testing is simple. Write good unit tests, make sure we catch the normal case, extreme case, and null case for some methods. Job done!
However, as the complexity of software increases, a better and better software test process must be made to ensure that the solution meets the requirements. This is even more true in the case of critical systems such as those in use in medical, financial, and defense systems.
In this blog post, I write some of the standards, certifications, and online resources in the field of software testing.
What standards are there for testing?
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has quite a number of standards that organizations can leverage to adapt for their software quality assurance process.
IEEE Standard
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610.12-1990 – Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology
- 739-2002 – Standard for Software Quality Assurance Plans
- 828-2005 – Standard for Software Configuration Management
- 829-2008 – Standard for Software and System Test Documentation
- 830-1998 – Recommended Practices for Sofware Requirements Specifications
- 1008-1987 – Standard for Software Unit Testing
- 1012-2004 – Standard for Software Verification and Validation
- 1028-2008 – Standard for Software Reviews and Audits
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) also has a standard that is related to software testing.
What about certification?
Although not as ubiquitous as the software development technical certification, there are some certifications made for QA professionals. Having a certification can give one an advantage because it shows that the person has some formal knowledge about the software quality assurance process and methods of testing.
The following are some of those certifications:
International Software Testing Qualifications Board
QAI Global Institute
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CSTE – Certified Software Test Engineer
- CASQ – Certified Associate in Software Quality
- CSQA – Certified Software Quality Analysts
International Institute for Software Testing
Are there useful web resources for QA professionals?
As more and more organizations put emphasize in the importance of testing, we can see more resources for QA professionals on the web. Other than the formalized IEEE and ISO standards mentioned above, there are some other very good resources that QA professionals can take advantage of.
UTest
UTest is a company that specialize in software testing services. It provides services through a great number of freelance test professionals it has (crowdsource). If you’re interested to be one, you can read more about it here.
It also has free resources page for testers to help new testers get into the game. 🙂
SQAForums
Reading forums is still one of the best way to learn from your peers, and fortunately there is SQAForums. You can browse through the forum without an account, but if you need to ask questions and participate, you have to create one.
Probably one of the best part of the forum is there is a separate section for each software testing tools.
International Software Testing Qualifications Board Reference
Although not as engaging as the previous two resources, the ISTQB website has a references section where we can read articles related to ISTQB that are taken from the Testing Experience magazine.
So, these are some of the standards, certifications, and resources for software test professionals. If you have any ideas or comments, please feel free to write them on the comments section below. 😀