Certified Software Tester
Common Body of Knowledge

Common Body of Knowledge For The Certified Software Tester (CSTE)

All candidates will be tested on this version and current candidates will need to start obtaining CPE credits based on this version. 

The Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) for the CSTE is designed to cover the challenges faced by today’s software testers. The CBOK’s knowledge categories have been selected to address these challenges. It is recognized that many software testers do not need to be competent in all of the categories to fulfill their current job responsibilities.

Categories one to six should be common to all test assignments and therefore most of the certification examination will focus on categories one to six. However, the candidate should have a basic knowledge of categories seven to ten to ensure correctness of test competencies and candidates will be examined at a high level on these categories.

The Common Body of Knowledge for the software tester certificate includes these ten knowledge categories:

  1. Software Testing Principles and Concepts
  2. Building the Test Environment
  3. Managing the Test Project
  4. Test Planning
  5. Executing the Test Plan
  6. Test Status, Analysis and Reporting
  7. User Acceptance Testing
  8. Testing Software Developed by Outside Organizations
  9. Testing Software Controls and the Adequacy of Security Procedures
  10. Testing New Technologies

General Bibliographic References

IMPORTANT: It is each candidate's responsibility to stay current in the field and to be aware of published works and materials available for professional study and development. Software Certifications recommends that candidates for certification continually research and stay aware of current literature and trends in the field. There are many valuable references that have not been listed here. These references are offered for informational purposes only.
Managing the Testing Process: Practical Tools and Techniques for Managing Hardware and Software Testing
by Rex Black. Microsoft Press, 1999.

Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing
by William E. Perry and Randall Rice. Dorset House, 1997.

Effective Methods of Software Testing , Second Edition
by William E. Perry. Wiley, 2000.

Software Test Automation
Testing Computer Software, Second Edition
by Cem Kaner, Jack Falk, Hung Quoc Nguyen. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993.

Black Box Testing Techniqueses
A Guide to Software Package Evaluation and Selection
by Nathan Hollander. AMACOM, 2000

A Manager's Guide to Software Engineering g
by Roger S. Pressman. McGraw Hill, 1993.

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