Prof. Jeff Tian, CSE Dept., SMU, Dallas, TX 75275
Phone: (214)768-2861; Fax: (214)768-3085
E-mail: tian@engr.smu.edu; Webpage: www.engr.smu.edu/~tian/class/7314.08s
General Description
Quality assurance (QA) includes many techniques and activities aimed at
assuring that appropriate functionality has been
implemented correctly in the software system or product.
We will devote substantial time of this course to
various topics related to testing,
one of the most important QA activities,
with a focus on testing techniques, including:
black-box or functional testing;
clear-box or structural testing;
usage-based statistical testing.
These testing techniques are organized by their underlying models,
including lists, partitions and equivalent classes, finite-state machines.
Test activities, management, automation, and related issues,
such as testing sub-phases,
team organization, testing process, people's roles and responsibilities,
test automation tools, specialized testing techniques,
test integration, etc., will also be discussed.
The rest of the class time will be devoted to the following topics:
general concepts about quality,
quality assurance (QA),
and software quality engineering (SQE);
other QA alternatives beyond testing,
including, defect prevention, inspection, formal verification,
and fault tolerance and safety assurance;
quality assessment and improvement, including,
measurement and feedback mechanisms,
quality models, defect analysis, risk identification,
and software reliability engineering.
Workload and Grading
The course grade each student receives will reflect the weighted
average of exams, homework assignments, and course project.
The approximate weight assignment is as follows:
Homework and In-class Participation
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Project
15%
25%
25%
35%
Textbook and Tentative Schedule
Jeff Tian,
"Software Quality Engineering:
Testing, Quality Assurance, and Quantifiable Improvement"
John Wiley and Sons, Inc., and IEEE Computer Society Press, 2005.
ISBN: 0-471-71345-7
Available at SMU bookstore,
official Wiley website for the book,
or your favorite local/online booksellers.
Tentative schedule (class-list of topics-textbook chapters):
Class 1: Overview of quality, quality assurance (QA), and software
quality engineering (SQE). Testing and other QA alternatives.
SQE Ch.1-6, 13-17.
Class 2: Testing basics, and testing based on checklists, partitions,
Musa operational profiles,
input domain partitions and related boundary conditions.
SQE Ch.7-9.
Class 3: Midterm exam; Testing based on finite-state machines (FSMs)
and Markov chains.
SQE Ch.10.
Class 4: Control flow and data flow testing. Other testing issues.
SQE Ch.11-12.
Class 5: Final exam; Project presentation; Quality assessment and improvement.
SQE Ch.18-22.
Other Information
Other references
(list from Fall 2007, to be updated later), reading material,
and selected class material will be listed or posted online.
Notice 1:
If you need to make alternative arrangements for turning-in
material or taking exams,
you must contact the instructor ahead of time
and get an extension.
(Otherwise you'll receive 0 for the specific item.)
Notice 2
(Relevant SMU policies):
* Disability Accommodations:
Students needing academic accommodations for
a disability must first contact Ms. Rebecca Marin, Coordinator,
Services for Students with Disabilities (214-768-4557)
to verify the disability and establish eligibility for accommodations.
They should then schedule an appointment with the professor
to make appropriate arrangements. (See University Policy No. 2.4.)
* Religious Observance: Religiously observant students wishing to be
absent on holidays that require missing class should notify
their professors in writing at the beginning of the semester,
and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of
making up any work missed because of the absence.
(See University Policy No. 1.9.)
* Excused Absences for University Extracurricular Activities:
Students participating in an officially sanctioned,
scheduled University extracurricular activity should be given
the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded
assignments missed as a result of their participation.
It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements
with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination
or other missed assignment for making up the work.
(University Undergraduate Catalog)