To me, a test strategy is about “what to test and how” and “ideas that guide testing towards the testing missions“. It is an ongoing process, not necessarily a document, and important for the results of the test effort. A good test strategy should be unique for the situation, but there are som general properties […]
For the first 10 years of my testing career I wrote lousy test strategies. I believe the actual test strategies, what we tested and how, were adequate, but the way it was communicated, as part of test plans, was not good. As many strategies, they more or less just stated different functionalities, and that they […]
Harry Collins’ Tacit and Explicit Knowledge is a book about scripted and exploratory testing. Explicit knowledge is what can be told and is able to transfer knowledge. Tacit knowledge is what can’t be told (yet), knowledge transferred in other ways than reading/listening. There is nothing strange or mystical about this, “experience goes along with having […]
* Take any product, or a part of it. * Choose one category of the quality characteristics. * Go through each sub-category and consider if it is relevant. * For these, write a quality objective anchored in the product, that is useful to many roles. * Design and execute tests that challenge these objectives. * […]
Hi Thanks for your request of a high level summary of software testing. You would get different answers from each tester, and here’s what I think you should know. 1. Purpose of software Software is made to help people with something. If people don’t have use of it, the product doesn’t work. This is complex, […]
I guess some of you are writing, or thinking about writing, abstracts for EuroSTAR 2013, deadline is at 13 February. You should do this, not just because Alan said so. You should do it because you want to tell stories, enhance your own understanding of something that is important to you. This is my process […]
When teaching scripted testing (yes, I actually do this!) I found the Pass to Fail, Fail to Pass heuristic (used by many, but now with a catchy name.) The essence is that when a not-overly-simple test has resulted in a Pass, think about it some more, and try to make it Fail instead. When a […]
I am curious about how the system works I look at details and the whole, and at many places I use many sources to learn what is important I am creative and see many testing possibilities I test in many different ways, and adjust to the situation I am good at finding important problems fast […]
Suppose you have a risk assessment fully agreed by stakeholders, and their relatives. Create a stable sampling across all adjacent perspectives, and let the corresponding tests be executed on best representatives platforms, theoretically covering 99.5% of potential future usage. Now, let any opposites conglomerate, and hold their best fit tempo, until the sounds dissolve into […]
I hope many of you are using SFDPOT (James Bach) and CRUCSPIC STMP (thetesteye.com) in order to investigate what to test. SFDPOT describes elements of the product, and CRUCSPIC STMP describes sought attributes of the system. They are very powerful ways to identify things to test, plus to be able to communicate it effectively. Both […]