How Google Tests Software Book Review

As I read the beginning of this book I was thinking to myself that the story being told of a giant like Google seems just a little too good to be true, but I will trust what they are saying about the atmosphere. Giant companies have never impressed me. They take on their own life and the individual is usually lost in the shuffle. When I was near the end of the book is when I found out James Whittaker quit Google. In his blog "Why I left Google" he describes what I had envisioned Google to be. It sounds like Google has made some bad decisions to compete with Facebook, just like Microsoft has made some horrible decisions to compete with Apple. That said, this book is still a great read. It talks about the events that James calls the old Google and I highly recommend reading it. After the book gives an introduction to what testing at Google is, it has a chapter on each role in their testing world. Each chapter goes into great detail about the tools they use, the different test sizes, coding practices, team structure, process, bug attributes, workflow, and much more. There are also ton of really interesting interviews scattered throughout the book. I found these really entertaining. The book chapters include Introduction to Google Software Testing , The Software Engineer in Test , The Test Engineer , The Test Engineering Manager , and Improving How Google Tests Software. It also includes three appendices Chrome OS Test Plan , Test Tours for Chrome , and Blog Posts on Tools and Code. This book is now part of the orientation of new employees at Google, so if you plan on interviewing with them, it may be a good idea to read it in advance. Testing can become a major pain point on any decent size project. If done wrong, it can be a huge bottleneck and a source of pain, instead of being a relief and productivity gain. This book has tons of advice on how to avoid going off the rails with testing. This book isn't only for testers. The Software Engineer in Test is a developer focused on testability and test infrastructure. The chapter that covers The Software Engineer in Test is great for all developers to read. IT Managers, CIOs, Software Architects, and Enterprise Architects should definitely read this book. It is guaranteed to give you ideas and advice that you can use to improve testing in your organization. Over all I found this book very educational and very entertaining!!!

How Google Tests Software