1 / 11

Exploratory Testing

Exploratory Testing. What it IS. A rapid cycle of Design a test Execute it Observe results. Simultaneous learning, test design and test execution Unscripted Targeted Repeatable Relevant. Until we've characterized the capabilities and limitations of the system with respect to a charter.

Download Presentation

Exploratory Testing

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Exploratory Testing

  2. What it IS • A rapid cycle of • Design a test • Execute it • Observe results • Simultaneous learning, test design and test execution • Unscripted • Targeted • Repeatable • Relevant Until we've characterized the capabilities and limitations of the system with respect to a charter

  3. What it’s NOT • Not Functional testing • Tests are not scripted ahead of time • Results are not necessarily known • Not Random testing • Requires a human mind to execute testing and/or interpret results • More focused/directed than random testing • Not “ad hoc” testing • There is a Charter to structure the area of exploration • Tester understands how the user interacts with the application, and knows the historical weak points of the application

  4. Charter • A mission statement consisting of two or 3 sentences to guide your testing for the session. Ex: Analyze the X function. Make note of any risks, areas of instability or latency. • Manages scope • Create charter prior to testing. • Explore: story, feature, heuristics, system, testing tour • With: resources, constraints, features, setup • To discover: information

  5. Time Boxed Sessions

  6. Session Based Test Management • Time frame each session ~90 min • What’s the best test I can perform right now? • Use Notebook or some other recording method

  7. Why does it Work? • Testers use results of previous results to guide their future testing on the fly • They do not have to complete a series of scripted tests before focusing in or moving on to explore a more target rich environment • This accelerates bug detection when used intelligently

  8. The Theory • Discovery helps you choose relevant things to do among the infinite number of possibilities • The variations possible are “learned” as other tests are run • You run tests you didn’t think of initially – can’t anticipate everything! • “Sampling” vs complete coverage of conditions where complete coverage is not practical • Tests drawn from using a testing technique the team normally doesn’t apply • Tests are not written ahead of time – fast, flexible • You log as you go – requires practice, new habit • Does knowing more about the intended use help you do exploratory testing better? More efficiently?

  9. When are you DONE ? • Testing does not reveal NEW useful information. • Experienced tester feels comfortable. • Critical risk features have had time to go through exhaustive testing.

  10. More Exploratory Testing Tidbits • Tested = checked + explored • Comprehensive, repeatable regression tests are nice. But not sufficient. • Requirements are missed • User’s do unexpected things • Discover things you can vary • Use state/transition models • Use data models • Use deployment diagrams • Learn things useful for process AND product • Don’t go off the deep end • Explore early, explore often

  11. Appendix B: Testing Heuristics links • Elisabeth Hendrikson Test obsessed - http://testobsessed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/testheuristicscheatsheetv1.pdf • James Bach Satisfice - http://www.satisfice.com/tools/htsm.pdf

More Related