Are there any standard texts on the subject of Software Testing?

Question

I found two general books on software engineering (Software Engineering 7.5 by Ian Sommerville and Software Engineering by Roger S Pressman) and that have chapters on testing and validation and verification, however are there any "required reading" books on this subject?

Answer 1

Test-Driven Development by Example and Unit Testing Frameworks are both good books on unit testing specifically. See eed3si9n's answer for the standard text on software testing in general.

Answer 2

How to Break Software: A Practical Guide to Testing by James A. Whittaker is good.

When I worked at Microsoft, Every once in awhile James Whittaker would be on the campus give a talk. I was never able to go, but he always packed the room.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, there really are no canonical books on the subject of software testing.

Cem Kaner's books seem to be fairly popular, but they are more properly suited to the beginner audience.

Actually, the best book I would recommend on subject of software quality and understanding the common ways that software breaks is Writing Solid Code by Steve Maguire.

Answer 4

The original classic on software testing is Glenford Myers' The Art of Software Testing - if you prefer theory over examples, this is the one to get (if you can afford it !)

Answer 5

Historically, there are four that that I think of as canonical:

The Art of Software Testing - Glenford Myers

Software Testing Techniques - Boris Beizer

Testing Computer Software - Cem Kaner and others

Testing Object-Oriented Systems: Models, Patterns, and Tools - Robert Binder

All those books were published in or before 1999 - they are somewhat out of date. Some of the more recent software testing books that I think are important are:

Lessons Learned in Software Testing - Kaner, Bach, Pettichord Close to 300 "Lessons" or short sections on various aspects of software testing.

How to Break Software - Whittaker This is a good first book on software testing. Whittaker's approach it to build a model of attacks on the software under test. He presents a good general approach that works for most types of software. He also has written books on testing security, web software, and exploratory testing - all good.

xUnit Test Patterns - Meszaros Although it's ostensibly about unit testing, there are many aspects touched on in this book that can apply to all types of testing.