Concepts:
Exploratory Testing
The following statement by James Bach is an enticing introduction to Exploratory
Testing:
"Exploratory software testing is a powerful and fun approach to testing.
In some situations, it can be orders of magnitude more productive than scripted
testing. I haven't found a tester yet who didn't, at least unconsciously,
perform exploratory testing at one time or another. Yet few of us study this
approach, and it doesn't get much respect in our field. It's high time we
stop the denial, and publicly recognize the exploratory approach for what
it is: scientific thinking in real-time." [BAC01a]
Bach provides a simple definition of the technique as "test design and
test execution at the same time". This technique for testing computer software
does not require significant advanced planning and is tolerant of limited documentation
for the target-of-test. Instead, the technique relies mainly on the skill and
knowledge of the tester to guide the testing, and uses an active feedback loop
to focus and calibrate the effort.
Thought to have been first defined by Cem Kaner et. al. in "Testing Computer
Software" [KAN99], Exploratory Testing
has been publicized by the work of amongst others, James Bach. Bach advocates
a style of exploratory testing where short sessions of exploration lasting approximately
90 minutes are briefly planned, undertaken, and results recorded and reviewed.
We recommend the following resources as a start to learning more about Exploratory
Testing:
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