Agile

Background

Agile has become increasingly popular over a number of years and is now recognised as a mainstream discipline that has become the model of choice for many business critical projects. Market research, widespread acceptance of agile and its reliance on integrated teams has driven the need for professional certification hence the birth of the 'Certified Agile Tester (CAT)' scheme. The research and need for discipline and teamwork was considered during the long and careful process of developing a certification syllabus that is agile and not static.

Aims

The aim of CAT is to enable those with testing experience to become effective members of an agile project. The scheme Provides worldwide consistency of learning and is based on a single set of material and group of exams, so someone taking CAT in the UK will benefit from the same learning and experience as someone from another country.

Agile team members can shy away from standardized training and exams as they can be seen to be opposing the agile philosophy. However, agile projects are no free agents; they need structure and discipline, as well as a common language and methods to be successful. CAT has been built to develop the skills, consensus and method of daily working that help bring about project success.

Who is supporting it?

The following blue-chip companies are public supporters of the CAT scheme:

• Barclays, Dorma, Hewlett Packard, IBM, IVV, Logic Studio
• Microfocus, Microsoft", Mobile.de, Nokia, NTS, Océ, OTTO
• SAP, Siemens, Sogeti, T-systems MMS, XING & Zurich

Along with leading lights of the agile and testing world, including Erik van Veenendaal, Krishna Rajan and others, these companies have been actively involved in reviewing the learning objectives, and syllabus. Many of them have attended pilot courses to validate that the learning objectives, the content of the scheme, its delivery and exam meet market need and fulfil their objectives.

Course Overview

The CAT Foundation level course prepares delegates for the two-part examination that must both be passed to gain the qualification. The course introduces testers to the practices they will need to understand and use to be effective team members and testers on an agile project. Designed as a very interactive course, delegates have the opportunity to discuss and share their experiences with others and to extend their knowledge of testing in agile projects. Practical exercises based on a complete agile life cycle are used to help delegates to put learning and their knowledge into practice throughout the course. Delegate's soft skills are assessed throughout the course based on their contributions to the classroom discussions and practical exercises. The information provided by classroom discussion and homework will prepare delegates for the written exam on Day 3. The skills developed in the practical exercises will prepare delegates for the practical assessment on Day 3.

Course Objectives

• To give delegates an understanding of the testing role within an Agile project;
• Provide delegates with information about Agile projects and how they differ from traditional projects;
• Enable delegates to effectively apply practical skills associated with the testing role on an Agile project;
• Certification, to enable people to sit the exam and gain accreditation as a 'Certified Agile Tester'.

Course Format

The course consists of four days in the classroom, where the split is around 50% theory/classroom discussion and 50% practical workshops and team exercises that take delegates through the activities of a typical agile project. The exam takes place on Day 3.

Business Outcomes

At the end of the course, successful delegates will be able to:

• Understand the principles behind the Agile approach to software development;
• Differentiate between the testing role in Agile projects compared with the role of testers in non-agile projects;
• Contribute positively as an Agile team member focused on testing;
• Appreciate the challenges and difficulties associated with the non-tes1ng activities performed in an Agile team;
• Demonstrate a range of soft skills required by effective Agile team members.

The exam

The exam contains two separate sections:

Practical Assessment: This is a two-hour exam in which delegates must demonstrate they have learned and can apply the Agile skills taught in the course

Written Exam: This is a 2.5 hour essay based exam where delegates must construct their own answers and solutions to three, set scenarios.

Candidates must achieve an overall score of 65% with a minimum score of 50% in each part of the exam to pass and be awarded 'CAT' status.

Course deliverables & notes

• Each delegate will receive a full set of hard copy course materials for future reference.
• Delegates will be expected to do between half an hour and 1 hour's homework per night.
• The course is delivered on behalf of UNICOM by iSQI accredited trainers

Pre-requisites

There are no mandatory pre-requisites for CAT, but it is recommended delegates have some experience of testing as the course assumes some knowledge and will not teach basic testing knowledge, such as fundamentals of testing, test case specification or testing terminology.