Recommended Reading for Software Testers
The original site carried a page of reading recommendations. This is its replacement: the books, standards and communities that are still worth a tester's time, grouped by what you need them for.
Reading listUpdated
A reading list is only useful if it says why. Each entry below earns its place for one reason a working tester would recognise, and the list is deliberately short. It is organized by need rather than by type, because nobody wants 'a standard'; they want to know what to cite when a customer asks for a test process, or what to read before their first exploratory session. No vendor documentation appears here, and no entry is an affiliate arrangement; titles and authors are given so that you can find them wherever you buy or borrow books.
For the vocabulary and the exam
ISTQB Foundation Level syllabus and glossary
SyllabusISTQB
Free, current and the shared language of the profession; read them for definitions, not for thinking. Serves: For the vocabulary and the exam
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119
StandardStandards body
The international test process and documentation standard; part 3 is what regulated customers ask about. Serves: For the vocabulary and the exam
For test management
Managing the Testing Process
BookRex Black
The most complete treatment of running a test effort end to end. Serves: For test management
Lessons Learned in Software Testing
BookCem Kaner, James Bach, Bret Pettichord
293 numbered lessons and the best book to hand a new test lead. Serves: For test management
TMMi model document
BookTMMi Foundation
Freely available and, with Erik van Veenendaal's work on the model, the reference for test process improvement. Serves: For test management
For thinking about testing
Writing on rapid software testing
BookMichael Bolton, with James Bach
Bolton's blog and their joint writing are the sharpest current arguments about what testing is for. Serves: For thinking about testing
Perfect Software and Other Illusions About Testing
BookJerry Weinberg
Short and permanently relevant on what management misunderstands about testing. Serves: For thinking about testing
Explore It!
BookElisabeth Hendrickson
The practical manual for exploratory testing, and the second book for anyone who must test well by Friday. Serves: For thinking about testing
For agile teams
Agile Testing and More Agile Testing
BookLisa Crispin, Janet Gregory
Define the tester's role on cross-functional teams, and help when testers sit idle early in each sprint. Serves: For agile teams
Specification by Example
BookGojko Adzic
The reference for acceptance test driven development and living documentation. Serves: For agile teams
Writing on program management
BookJohanna Rothman
Covers the multi-team ground of the original Knowledge Transfer tutorial on agile program management. Serves: For agile teams
For techniques
A Practitioner's Guide to Software Test Design
BookLee Copeland
The clearest book on the classical techniques, with one chapter per technique. Serves: For techniques
The Art of Software Testing
BookGlenford Myers
The 1979 original that still frames black-box and white-box thinking. Serves: For techniques
xUnit Test Patterns
BookGerard Meszaros
The reference on why automated tests rot and how to structure them so they do not. Serves: For techniques
OWASP Testing Guide
BookOWASP
A free security testing methodology, and the one to use for web applications when an assessor is coming. Serves: For techniques
OSSTMM
BookISECOM
A free security testing methodology, and the one to use for the operational scope of an assessment. Serves: For techniques
Communities
Ministry of Testing
CommunityCommunity
Runs the largest practitioner community and a long-running conference series. Serves: Communities
Association for Software Testing
CommunityCommunity
The non-profit behind the context-driven school of software testing. Serves: Communities
ISTQB member boards
CommunityCommunity
Run the national certification bodies and, in several countries, free evening meetups. Serves: Communities
Standards worth reading, and which part
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-1
StandardStandards body
Concepts and vocabulary, published in 2022; read it once. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 (2021)
StandardStandards body
The test processes in three layers, and the part to cite when asked what a test process is. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3 (2021)
StandardStandards body
Test documentation and its templates, and the part contracts name; it superseded IEEE 829. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-4 (2021)
StandardStandards body
Test design techniques with coverage measures, the reference behind this site's technique guides. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-5 (2016)
StandardStandards body
Keyword-driven testing, of interest only if you build that kind of framework. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
Technical report 29119-11 (2020)
StandardStandards body
Guidelines on testing AI-based systems, the closest thing to a standard for testing AI systems. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
ISO/IEC 25010
StandardStandards body
The quality characteristics that performance and usability testing are measured against. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
IEEE 1028
StandardStandards body
The standard to read for reviews and inspections, outside the 29119 family. Serves: Standards worth reading, and which part
Nothing matches. Clear the filter to see every entry.
Choosing between them by need. If you must write a test plan a customer will audit next month: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3 for the contents, Black for the management around it. If you are a developer or new tester who has to test well by Friday: Kaner, Bach and Pettichord first, Hendrickson second. If your team has just gone cross-functional and the testers are idle for the first week of each sprint: Crispin and Gregory. If your acceptance tests are long, brittle and owned by nobody: Adzic on specifying with examples, then Meszaros on why automated tests rot. If you need to design tests for a rule with many inputs: Copeland, one chapter per technique. If you are asked to prove your test process is mature: the TMMi model document, free, then van Veenendaal. If a security assessor is coming: the OWASP Testing Guide for web applications and the OSSTMM for the operational scope. If your manager thinks testing can be finished: Weinberg, and give them the copy.
Standards worth reading, and which part. ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 is five parts and a technical report, and nobody needs all of them. Part 1 (2022) is concepts and vocabulary; read it once. Part 2 (2021) is the test processes in three layers (organisational, management, dynamic) and is the part to cite when asked what a test process is. Part 3 (2021) is test documentation, the templates, and the part contracts name. Part 4 (2021) is test design techniques with coverage measures, the reference behind this site's technique guides. Part 5 (2016) is keyword-driven testing, of interest only if you build that kind of framework. Technical report 29119-11 (2020) is guidelines on testing AI-based systems, the closest thing to a standard for the Testing AI Systems hub. Outside 29119: ISO/IEC 25010 for the quality characteristics that performance and usability testing are measured against, and IEEE 1028 for reviews and inspections. All of these are paid documents; the ISTQB syllabi, the TMMi model, the OWASP guides and the OSSTMM are free.
