Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams (Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn))

Some people saw testers as failed programmers or second-class citizens in the world of software development. Testers who don’t bother to learn new skills and grow professionally contribute to the perception that testing is low-skilled work. Even the term “tester” has been avoided, with job titles such as “Quality Assurance Engineer” or “Quality Ana

Automating tests is hard, but it is much easier when you have the whole team working together. Any testing issue is easier to address when you have people with multiple skill sets and multiple perspectives attacking it.

Simplicity helps us keep our focus on risk, return on investment, and improving in the areas of greatest pain.

When an agile tester suspects a hidden assumption or a misunderstood requirement, she’ll get a customer and a developer talking about it.

Testers who have been working in a traditional setting might have a hard time adjusting to their new roles and activities.

The principles we think are important for an agile tester

Agile teams are best suited for organizations that allow independent thinking. For example, if a company has a hierarchical structure and encourages a directive management style for all its projects, agile teams will probably struggle.

The agile tester should look for unique ways to facilitate communication. It is a critical aspect to doing her job well.

Testers work closely with customers to learn requirements and define acceptance tests that will prove that conditions of satisfaction are met.