How Google Tests Software

How Google has learned to deliver reliable cloud apps at massive scale: an unprecedented look 'under the hood' at Google's testing operation

• Presents pioneering testing techniques that can help any company moving to the cloud.
• Shows how to achieve web-level scale for integration and system testing.
• Offers expert guidance on managing end-to-end testing, including superior automation strategies.
• By James Whittaker, one of the testing community's leading experts.

Seamless delivery of cloud software at scale is a massive challenge, but one company has largely surmounted it: Google. In reaching this goal, a state-of the-art testing process was of paramount importance. This book offers an unprecedented 'under the hood' look at how Google tests its cloud software, introducing never-before-revealed best practices for testing and automation. Test pioneer James Whittaker and two Google testing experts bring together powerful lessons, place them in perspective, and codify them for use by any practitioner. They offer candid insights into what's working for Google - and an insider's skeptical look at processes that aren't yet working optimally. Along the way, they offer readers a solid foundation for making decisions about:

• Risk analysis and test planning.
• Thinking like the user (and knowing which user!)
• Exploratory, black box, white box, and acceptance testing.
• Incorporating community feedback.
• Tracking issues more effectively.
• Using off-the-shelf tools, custom tools, spreadsheets, and dashboards.
• Understanding the lives of software engineers and test engineering managers.
• Testing early 'Docs and Mocks'
• Testing interfaces, classes, modules, libraries, binaries, services, and infrastructure
• Managing code reviews
• Performing small, medium, and large-scale tests.
• Refactoring.
• Using test hooks, presubmit scripts and queues, and continuous builds