The ISTQB Certified Tester
Qualification scheme has three steps [URL: ISTQB]. The basics are described in
the curriculum (syllabus) for the Foundation
Level. Building on this is the Advanced
Level certificate, showing a deeper knowledge of testing. The third
level, for the Expert Level certificate, is
currently being developed.

The content of this book corresponds to the requirements of the
ISTQB Foundation Certificate. The knowledge
needed for the exams can be acquired by self-study. The book can also be used to
extend knowledge after, or parallel to, participation in a course.

Chapter overview basics

The topics of this book, and thus the rough structure of the
course contents for the Foundation Certificate,
are described below.

In Chapter
2, the basics of software testing are discussed. In addition to the
motivation for testing, the chapter will explain when to test, with which goals,
and how intensively. The concept of a basic test process will be shown. It will
deal with the psychological difficulties experienced when testing one's own
software, and the blindness for one's own errors.

Testing in the software life
cycle

Chapter
3 discusses which test activities should be done during the software
development process, and how they relate to other development tasks. In addition
to the different test levels and test phases, it will deal with the differences between
functional and nonfunctional tests. The economy of testing and how to test
changes, as well as testing in maintenance, will also be discussed.

Static test

Chapter 4 discusses static
methods, i.e., procedures where the test object is analyzed but not executed.
Reviews and static analyses are already used by many enterprises with positive
results. The various methods and techniques will be described.

Dynamic test

Chapter 5
deals with testing in a narrower sense. The classification of dynamic testing
into black box and white
box techniques will be discussed. Various test techniques are explained
in detail with the help of a continuous example. Illustrated at the end of the
chapter is the reasonable usage of exploratory and intuitive testing, which may
be used in addition to the other techniques.

Test management

Chapter 6 shows which aspects
should be considered in test management, how systematic incident handling
appears, and some basics about establishing sufficient configuration management.

Test tools

Testing of software without the support of appropriate tools is
very labor and time intensive. The seventh and last chapter of this book
introduces different classes of tools for supporting testing, and hints for tool
selection and implementation.

Notes to the subject matter and for the
exam are in the appendix

The appendix offers notes and additional information on the
subject matter and the exam to the Certified Tester. Further appendices of this
book contain explanations to the test plan according to [IEEE 829-1983],
exemplary exercises, a glossary, and the list of literature. The technical terms
are marked with an appropriate hint when they appear for the first time in the
text. The hint points to a detailed definition in the glossary. Text passages
that go beyond the material of the syllabus are marked as excursions.