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I'm trying to learn more about software testing, so I want to know what are the suggested books on this topic

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Have you read the FAQ, Good Subjective, Bad Subjective and Real Questions Have Answers? I'm not sure this question fits. – Rebecca Chernoff May 3 '11 at 21:15
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@Rebecca What about a community-wiki instead? I think that having a list of starter books is a good idea. When SQA goes public there'll probably be questions similar to this on a weekly basis; at least give those people interested in starting a place to go. After all, @Nathan didn't ask for the best books; those could be determined by the votes the answers receive. – jarz May 3 '11 at 21:25
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I would agree. This would be a good community wiki question vs just outright closing it. – Dan Snell May 3 '11 at 21:38
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Agreed - would be a good question for community wiki (IMO) – Alan May 3 '11 at 22:14
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Echo the comments above about putting this in the community wiki. While some books will become classics on the broad subject of software testing, many are more specialized. I would like to see entries for books aimed at different experience levels, roles, tools, etc. – Michael Ensminger May 4 '11 at 14:25
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7 Answers

up vote 13 down vote

The art of Software Testing is a time honoured classic that is very good.

The testing chapters of Code Complete by Steve McConnell are excellent.

Chapter 5 of Microsoft Secrets is really good for understanding how the daily build works. (But his is getting hard to find now)

How we test software at Microsoft is also a good title.

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These are some of the ones on my bookshelf. – MichaelF May 4 '11 at 14:36
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+1 on How We Test SW at Microsoft (but I'm quite biased) :} – Alan May 4 '11 at 14:44
+1 for Code Complete. I don't think I've been to a development shop yet where this wasn't on the shelf. @Alan I lol'd :-) – corsiKa♦ May 5 '11 at 22:55
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Cem Kaner, James Bach, Bret Pettichord: Lessons Learned in Software Testing. This should be on any tester's desk - it's a set of 293 short pieces about different aspects of testing, from testing techniques to automation, to documenting your testing, to managing your career. It's probably the book that gets picked up most by colleagues (well, ok, the Manga Guide to Databases might just beat it, but that has the unfair advantage of being a technical book with a picture of a fairy on the front).

Jerry Weinberg: Perfect Software: and other illusions about testing. This is the book you want to get your project manager to read. Weinberg nails so many misconceptions that people have about what testing is, and what it can do for the project.

Lisa Crispin, Janet Gregory: Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams. If you're working on an Agile team, you'll want to read this.

Lee Copeland: A Practitioner's Guide to Software Test Design is the book to read on test design.

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I liked Testing Computer Software by Kaner.

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It's getting a little outdated IMO, but for an absolute beginner I still don't know of anything better. – Ethel Evans May 10 '11 at 17:55
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I just finished Exploratory Software Testing by James Whittaker, and it has given me some fantastic ideas that I've already put into use in my daily testing.

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Ron Patton: Software Testing @Amazon

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Sagar Naik, Piyu Tripathy: Software Testing and Quality Assurance: Theory and Practice @Amazon

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Much of theory, and we have it in our course! – ykombinator Oct 23 '11 at 10:02
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I initially answered this question by listing a bunch of books related to software testing including many of those mentioned above like Lesson's Learned in Software Testing by James Bach, et. al and How to Break Web Software by James Whittaker, et. al.

I've found some better references to software testing books, including those to start and continue reading throughout your career.

Software testing expert James Bach has a growing list of books on his Tester's Bookshelf that are worth looking at: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/satisfice/testersbookshelf

Michael Bolton has lists some of his books: http://www.librarything.com/catalog/MichaelBolton

I've read a few testing books and have a lot more to read. I've got my own Testing Bookshelf: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=ckenst&collection=197986&shelf=list&sort=title

I hope this helps give people plenty of ideas for books.

Chris

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