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Exploratory Testing

EuroSTAR Trip Report, Part 1

Way way back in 2003, Bret Pettichord first published a paper on schools of software testing. The paper was controversial. Some people found it helpful to identify different schools of thought, for the purpose of understanding ways in which reasonable people might disagree reasonably.  Others found even the mention of disagreements within the field to be distasteful and divisive.  Some people identified with particular schools. Others, sometimes indignantly, refused to … Read more

Project Estimation and Black Swans (Part 5): Test Estimation

In this series of blog posts, I’ve been talking about project estimation. But I’m a tester, and if you’re reading this blog, presumably you’re a tester too, or at least you’re interested in testing. So, all this has might have been interesting for project estimation in general, but what are the implications for test project estimation? Let’s start with the tester’s approach: question the question. Is there ever such a … Read more

Why Exploratory? Isn’t It All Just Testing?

The post “Exploratory Testing and Review” continues to prompt comments whose responses, I think, are worthy of their own posts. Thank you to Parthi, who provides some thoughtful comments and questions. I always wondered and in attempted to see the difference between the Exploratory testing that you are talking about and the testing that I am doing. Unlike the rest of the commenter’s, this post made this question all the … Read more

Can Exploratory Testing Be Automated?

In a comment on the previous post, Rahul asks, One doubt which is lingering in my mind for quite sometime now, “Can exploratory testing be automated?” There are (at least) two ways to interpret and answer that question. Let’s look first at answering the literal version of the question, by looking at Cem Kaner’s definition of exploratory testing: Exploratory software testing is a style of software testing that emphasizes the … Read more

Exploratory Testing and Review

The following is a lightly-edited version of something that I wrote on the software-testing mailing list, based on a misapprehension that we who advocate exploratory testing suggest that review or other forms of testing should be dropped. Exploratory testing was, for many years, described as “simultaneous test design, test execution, and learning”. In 2006, a few of us who have been practising and studying exploratory testing got together to exchange … Read more

All Testing is (not) Confirmatory

In a recent blog post, Rahul Verma suggests that all testing is confirmatory. First, I applaud his writing of an exploratory essay. I also welcome and appreciate critique of the testing vs. checking idea. I don’t agree with his conclusions, but maybe in the long run we can work something out. In mythology, there was a fellow called Procrustes, an ironmonger. He had a iron bed which he claimed fit … Read more

Questions from Listeners (2): Is Unit Testing Automated?

On April 19, 2010, I was interviewed by Gil Broza.  In preparation for that interview, we solicited questions from the listeners, and I promised to answer them either in the interview or in my blog.  Here’s the second one. Unit testing is automated. When functional, integration, and system test cannot be automated, how to handle regression testing without exploding the manual test with each iteration? This question provides a great … Read more

Coding QA Podcast on Exploratory Testing (Part 2)

Here’s Part 2 of my notes on the CodingQA podcast, in which Matthew Osborn and Federico Silva Armas chat with James Bach about the exploratory testing and session-based test management. Skills of Exploratory Testing If you want to develop a list of testing skills, you might find it helpful to start with the Exploratory Skills and Dynamics sheet, by James Bach, Jon Bach, and Michael Bolton. One of the core … Read more

Exploratory Testing and Interviews

I was interviewed on April 19, 2010 by Gil Broza, an expert Agile coach who is a colleague and friend here in Toronto. Gil’s request for an interview reminded me of an experience I had a few beforehand. I received an email from a couple of researchers in Sweden who are studying exploratory testing.  I was honoured to be asked for my point of view on the subject. However, I … Read more

Looping and Branching in Exploratory Testing

In the interview with the Coding QA guys that was the subject of my last post, James Bach refers exploratory testing as parallel learning test design, test execution and learning, and said that exploratory approaches are epitomized by loops. Where do loops happen in exploratory testing? In fact, exploratory testing includes both looping and branching. When we’re testing in an exploratory way, we may branch away from the current path … Read more