Experiences of Test Automation: Case Studies of Software Test Automation

Chapter 13. Automated Reliability Testing Using Hardware Interfaces

Bryan Bakker

Bryan Bakker tells of automating testing for medical devices, an area with stringent quality requirements and difficulties in accessing the software embedded in devices such as X-ray machines. Bakker and his team’s starting point was simple tests that assessed reliability; functional testing came later. The automation was developed in increments of increasing functionality. The chapter contains many interesting observations about management’s changing views toward the automation (e.g., management was surprised when the testers found a lot of new bugs, even though “finding bugs” is what management expected of them). The team developed a good abstraction layer, interfacing ...