Fundamentals of Software Testing

Good software testing is more than finding defects at the end of a project. In Fundamentals of Software Testing, Bernard Homès lays out the principles, techniques, and management practices that help testers make testing purposeful throughout software development and maintenance.

This revised and updated second edition moves from foundational concepts to practical approaches for designing, organizing, and communicating tests. Its coverage also provides course-study material for the 2023 ISTQB Foundation Level syllabus, with sample exam questions included.

Understand testing in its full context

The opening chapters consider why defects occur, what testing is meant to achieve, and how testing relates to quality, debugging, and the software life cycle. They also address test roles, independence, essential skills, and the importance of adapting testing to its context.

Follow testing from development through maintenance

Explore how testing fits sequential, iterative, and incremental development, alongside test levels and test types. The book also discusses static testing, reviews, and tool-supported static analysis—approaches that can reveal issues without executing the software.

Choose test techniques with care

Coverage includes black-box methods such as equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis, decision tables, state-transition testing, and use-case testing. Structure-based techniques, experience-based approaches, exploratory testing, and collaborative methods broaden the picture. The emphasis is not just on naming techniques, but on understanding their assumptions, limits, and suitability for different testing objectives.

Connect test work to project decisions

Test management, monitoring progress, handling incidents, and communicating testing information to stakeholders are part of the book’s scope. Together with its coverage of test design and life-cycle activities, these topics help readers see testing as coordinated project work rather than a collection of isolated test cases.

For study and practice

This edition will be relevant to people learning software testing, preparing for Foundation Level study, and practitioners who want a structured account of core testing concepts and methods. Sample exam questions offer a way to revisit the material as you read.