Taking Testing Seriously

Part IIRapid Software Testing Methodology

Part II presents the closest thing to an authoritative description and explanation of the Rapid Software Testing methodology that exists in print.

For decades, in the tradition of certain great philosophers and many more busy consultants, RST was communicated orally and interactively. RST is partly a skill set, after all. Skills are not learned by reading a lot of text, but rather via deliberate practice.

We did have some collateral—a handful of reference documents and some slide decks—but we liked the freedom of an informally documented way of working. By keeping the details of the methodology open, we could more easily develop it, trying different things in the classroom and on our projects.

The challenge of writing this book has forced us, in a good way, to crystallize our ideas. At long last, we've dredged our intuitions to make explicit some of our stubbornly tacit knowledge about testing. Along the way, to aid the determined student of testing, we've identified about a hundred books and journal articles that cast more light on the philosophy and science upon which RST rests.