1. Foreword

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The ultimate test of every software construction effort is the user's success using the product to accomplish some practical goal. No matter how much state-of-the-art technology goes into the software, success can only be judged through the lens of the user.

Taking this philosophy to heart, Frank Cohen has created and led a thrivingopen-source project called TestMaker. It has improved the day-to-day lives of thousands of software programmers, quality assurance technicians, and information technology managers.

Since 1990, my company, Cooper Software, has pioneered the Goal-Directed method of interaction design. This powerful and effective method has met with widespread acceptance in the interaction design community. It is heartening to see how Frank has applied these same methods to software test automation and scalable system design. Frank's application of these methods is especially important in today’s environments where J2EE, .NET, and the latest integration technologies are used to build information systems.

The new software testing methods introduced in this book will show you how to form and apply effective online goal-directed design and testing techniques.You begin with your user’s goals, follow Frank’s recommendations for scalable system design, and end with powerful tests that measure your user’s success in achieving them.

As a programmer, quality assurance technician, or IT manager, you have several choices of system design, automated test tools, and techniques. The lessons in this book not only present a coherent methodology, but provide you with immediately useful tools, techniques, and code that will automate the testing of your Web-enabled applications, especially Web Services.

Frank Cohen has been leading entrepreneurial software creation efforts for more than 25 years. With this book you can take advantage of his extensive experience helping users achieve their goals.

—Alan Cooper Chairman, Cooper Software

Alan is the author of About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design and The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. He is also the father of Visual Basic.

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