Rex Black’s Acknowledgements

A complete list of people who deserve thanks for helping me along in my career as a test professional would probably make up its own small book. Here I’ll confine myself to those who had an immediate impact on my ability to write this particular book.

First of all, I’d like to thank my colleagues on the American Software Testing Qualifications Board, the International Software Testing Qualifications Board, and especially the Advanced Syllabus Working Party, who made this book possible by creating the process and the material from which this book grew. Not only has it been a real pleasure sharing ideas with and learning from each of the participants, but I have had the distinct honor of twice being elected president of both the American Software Testing Qualifications Board and the International Software Testing Qualifications Board. I continue to work on both boards. I look back with pride at our accomplishments so far, I look forward with pride to what we’ll accomplish together in the future, and I hope this book serves as a suitable expression of the gratitude and sense of accomplishment I feel toward what we have done for the field of software testing.

Next, I’d like to thank the people who helped me create the material that grew into this book and the previous edition of it. The material in this book, in our Advanced Technical Test Analyst instructor-led training course, and in our Advanced Technical Test Analyst e-learning course were coauthored by Jamie Mitchell, and reviewed, re-reviewed, and polished with hours of dedicated assistance by Bernard Homés, Gary Rueda Sandoval, Jan Sabak, Joanna Kazun, Corné Kruger, Ed Weller, Dawn Haynes, José Mata, Judy McKay, Paul Jorgensen, and Pat Masters.

Of course, the Advanced Technical Test Analyst syllabus could not exist without a foundation, specifically the ISTQB Foundation syllabus. I had the honor of being part of that working party as well. I thank them for their excellent work over the years, creating the fertile soil from which the Advanced Technical Test Analyst syllabus and thus this book sprang.

In the creation of the training courses and the materials that make up this book, Jamie and I have drawn on all the experiences we have had as authors, practitioners, consultants, and trainers. So I have benefited from individuals too numerous to list. I thank each of you who have bought one of my previous books, for you contributed to my skills as a writer. I thank each of you who have worked with me on a project, for you have contributed to my abilities as a test manager, test analyst, and technical test analyst. I thank each of you who have hired me to work with you as a consultant, for you have given me the opportunity to learn from your organizations. I thank each of you who have taken a training course from me, for you have collectively taught me much more than I taught each of you. I thank my readers, colleagues, clients, and students and hope that my contributions to each of you have repaid the debt of gratitude that I owe you.

For over 20 years, I have run a testing services company, RBCS. From humble beginnings, RBCS has grown into an international consulting, training, and outsourcing firm with clients on six continents. While I have remained a hands-on contributor to the firm, over 100 employees, subcontractors, and business partners have been the driving force of our ongoing success. I thank all of you for your hard work for our clients. Without the success of RBCS, I could hardly avail myself of the luxury of writing technical books, which is a source of pride for me but not a whole lot of money. Again, I hope that our mutual successes have repaid the debt of gratitude that I owe each of you.

Finally, I thank my family, especially my wife, Laurel, and my daughters, Emma and Charlotte. It’s hard to believe that my first book, Managing the Testing Process, was published the year before my first daughter was born, and now she is a 14-year-old young lady. My second daughter was born right about the time I first got involved with the ISTQB program, in 2002. As proud as I am of my books and my work with the ISTQB, well, those two girls are the greatest things I’ve ever been part of doing. My wife (who also happens to be my astute business partner) has done all of the hard work of keeping the plates spinning on the pencils while I do things like speak at conferences and write books. As Brad Paisley put it, “Now there are men who make history, there are men who change the world, and there are men like me that simply find the right girl.” If I had nothing but my family, I’d still be the luckiest guy I know.

Of course, in every life, even the luckiest life, some rain will fall. Earlier this year, my family and I lost our dog Cosmo after a long—one might say interminable—series of illnesses spanning years. To all but the last of these maladies, he absolutely refused to succumb, due to the fact, as I’m sure he saw it, that there was surely more food to steal from someone’s plate. Within two weeks of Cosmo’s sad departure, a much less predictable canine tragedy occurred. Our other dog, a rescue black Labrador named Hank, was stricken with a cruel, aggressive, and incurable cancer. He fought it with his usual brio and quirky style, enjoying every day of life. However, as cancer will do to dogs, it killed him in September as I was working my way through this book. Chase butterfly shadows and chipmunks in heaven, my friend, and maybe I’ll see you there someday.