Testing with equivalence partitions introduces the reader to the first and simplest form of black-box and unit testing. First a worked example is used to demonstrate how to progress from a specification of the software to a fully automated test. The steps of the process are then examined in more detail, and the strengths and weaknesses examined through the introduction of faults into the software. The chapter ends, as do all the chapters which introduce new testing techniques, with notes for the experienced tester.

Testing object-oriented software is a significant topic in its own right, and this chapter presents the user with the essential underlying test techniques: testing in class context, and inheritance testing. As in the previous chapters, a worked example is used to introduce the reader to the concepts, which are then subsequently discussed in more detail. The chapter then summarises some more advanced techniques; state-based testing, UML-based testing, and built-in testing. Some of the limitations are examined through the introduction of faults into the working code.

Some forms of testing are significantly more time consuming to develop, and all-paths coverage is one of these. Is introduced to the reader as it is one of the most powerful forms of white-box testing, ensuring that every path from the beginning to the end of the code is exercised during testing. It is unlikely that a tester will use this technique in practice, but an understanding of this technique provides a baseline to compare other white-box tests against.

Building on the knowledge gained in chapter 1, this chapter explains the next form of black-box testing, based on the boundary values of each equivalence partition.

As an introduction to white-box testing, the first technique presented shows how to identify lines of code that have not been executed during testing, and how to develop additional tests to ensure that they produce the correct results when executed.

Application testing is often emphasised in practice, as it ensures that an entire software system works for a user. However, this is substantially more complex than unit-testing, so this topic is addressed after the underlying concepts have been introduced in the previous chapters. As for object-oriented testing, this is a significant topic, and the reader is introduced to the common form used in practice: user-story testing. A worked example is used to present the techniques involved to analyse the software interface and produce a fully automated set of tests for a web-based application. A more detailed analysis follows, identifying many of the more difficult problems that an application tester will experience.

There is a subtle distinction between statements in a program, and the branches between those statements. Even with full statement coverage, faults may remain. This chapter presented shows how to identify branches in the code that have not been taken during testing, and how to develop additional tests to ensure that they produce the correct results when they are taken.

Combinations of different inputs, when not correctly handled, are a frequent cause of faults in software. Decision tables allow the tester to identify these combinations, and further improve the test coverage. Building on the knowledge gained in the previous chapters, this chapter explains how to identify casues and effects, build a decision table, and then use the rules in the table to develop test cases and automated tests.