TCS'98 Conference -- TESTING UNDER PRESSURE

     LEARN TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF TESTING COMPLEX APPLICATIONS UNDER
                 HARD DEADLINES AND LIMITED RESOURCES

Mark your calendar for the 15th annual event. The printed Conference brochure is now available. You may request the brochure and other information by e-mail to:

                         admin_at_uspdi.org

The continuously updated Conference program, with additional information (including on-line brochure request and registration) is at our Web site:

                  http://www.uspdi.org/conference

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           15th International Conference and Exposition on

                     TESTING COMPUTER SOFTWARE
                   Theme: Testing Under Pressure 

                         June 8-12, 1998
      Washington, D.C. * Sheraton Premiere (Tyson¹s Corner) * USA

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IN COOPERATION WITH:
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGSoft American Society for Quality (ASQ) Software Division Software Technology Support Center (STSC)

CONFERENCE PROGRAM BY:
Frontier Technologies, Inc.

CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT BY:
U.S. Professional Development Institute

SCOPE AND PURPOSE The Fifteenth International Conference on TESTING COMPUTER SOFTWARE will provide an opportunity to participate in the leading international conference on software testing. Learn how testing professionals and experts have used advanced methods and testing applications to improve the effectiveness of their testing, reduce testing costs and meet schedule deadlines. Share your own experiences in testing with others. You will be able to exchange knowledge and ideas with people from a wide variety of environments and locations including those from industry, academia and government from the United States and abroad.

Conference tracks will address topics concerning the management of software testing, the application of a variety of software testing techniques, testing case studies, and additional topics that will introduce more advanced ideas.

This conference will provide essential information to all who are involved with or have an interest in software testing. This includes not only practitioners but managers and researchers as well.

The Fifteenth International Conference on TESTING COMPUTER SOFTWARE is where testing practitioners and managers from the commercial and applications software community can learn:

• Experiences with testing under harsh deadlines or technical restrictions ... or both
• Ways to improve the testing process
• Practical experience with the various techniques
• Which efforts have been most successful
• Which efforts have been least successful

This conference brings together a set of experienced software testers to share their experiences and what they have learned from them. You will have the opportunity to hear about effective software testing techniques, methods and technologies that have benefited the organizations where they are used.

GENERAL SESSIONS and FEATURED SPEAKERS:

"Testing Strategies for Death-March Projects" by Ed Yourdon;
"Rules of Evidence: Combining Sources for Critical Software Assurance"

   by Charles Howell;
"Improved Testing through Software Reliability Engineering" by

   John Musa;
"Measurement and Testing: Doing More with Less" by

   Shari Lawrence Pfleeger;
"Avoidable Software Failures and Why We Don't Seem to Avoid Them" by

   Les Hatton
"The Evolutionary Project Management Method" by Tom Gilb;
"Conference Reflections" by Boris Beizer

PRE- AND POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS will present comprehensive technical sessions for software testing practitioners:

1. "Foundations of Software Testing Techniques" by Boris Beizer
2. "Overview of Software Metrics" by Denis Meredith
3. "Improved Testing through Software Reliability Engineering" by John Musa
4. "The MITs Test Management Method" by Marnie Hutcheson
5. "Automating Software Testing" by Mark Fewster
6. "Testing the Microsoft Way" by James Tierney
7. "Software Inspections" by Dorothy Graham
8. "Fundamentals of Internet/Intranet Application Testing" by Marnie Hutcheson
9. "Evolutionary Testing: The Influence of Evolutionary Project Management (Evo) on Testing" by Tom Gilb
10. "Testing Java Applets and Applications" by Jeffery Payne
11. "Testing and the Year 2000: Confronting Risks and Alternatives Among Bad Choices" by Boris Beizer
12. "A New Deming-Oriented Paradigm for Building Quality Software" by Vern Crandall

CONCURRENT SESSIONS will be divided into four parallel track sessions, offering a rich choice of management, technical and advanced topics and issues.

            MANAGEMENT TRACK
Risk Based Testing
A Software Development Risk Mitigation Technique for Algorithmically

   Complicated Software
Test Management Issues and Opportunities with Automation From "Victim" to "Victor": The Trials and Tribulations of a Neophyte

   Software Testing Manager
Operational Testing of Decision-Critical Applications System, Operational and Beta Testing of a Real-Time System Improving Software Test Productivity and Effectiveness System Testing at Allied Irish Banks

            ADVANCED TOPICS TRACK
A Defensive Approach to Testing Systems with COTS and Third-Party

   Functionality
A Tool and Language for Embedding Assertions in JAVA and C++ Systems Safety Improvement by Automated Software Robustness Evaluation Testing Safety Critical Medical Device Software Under Pressure: Hazard

   Analysis, Soft Factors and Regulatory Compliance Generating Test Cases for Overloaded Object-Oriented Programs Using EGS

   (Extended General Statecharts)
Testware Engineering
The Application of Mobile Agents to Software Testing How to Select Test Cases When the State Space Is Enormous

            AUTOMATION TRACK
Common Mistakes in Test Automation
Experience Report: Comparing an Automated Conformance Test Development

   Approach with a Traditional Development Approach Automating Test Generation for GUIs
Specification Transformation to Support Automated Testing

            PRESSURE COOKER TRACK
When It Absolutely, Positively Has to Be There... Putting the Fires Out in Testing Hell: The Basics Testing Under Pressure Requires a Dedicated Team Software Liability -- Strategies for Negotiating Testing Agreements

            TECHNIQUES TRACK
Test Framework for Interfaces: A Pragmatic Approach Effective Testing for Today's Programming Methods

            INTERNET ISSUES TRACK
Is Your Web Application Ready for Prime Time? Bugs I Have Met on the Internet -- A Case Study

            METRICS TRACK
Using Tolerance Bands on Test Related Metrics to Plan and Manage the

   "Crunch"
Testing Metrics for Requirements

            THIRD PARTY COMPONENTS TRACK Usability Testing of "Third-Party" Software: To Do or Not to Do? How to Protect Yourself From Instabilities in Third Party Software

VENDOR EXHIBIT of products and services will provide valuable support services and software information to your computer software testing efforts.

CONFERENCE VOLUME
A set of conference proceedings, papers and view graphs will be provided to each participant of the Conference. These materials are useful not only during the Conference as learning guides, but also as useful references when the conference is completed.

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For additional information or registration please contact:

Regular Mail: USPDI, 612 Ethan Allen Avenue, Suite 100; Takoma Park,

              MD 20912-5400, USA.
Phone:        301/270-1033
Fax:          301/270-1040 
E-mail:       admin_at_uspdi.org (Subject: TCS'98)
Web:          http://www.uspdi.org/conference

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