I have been using the Scripted – Exploratory Testing Continuum (For one source of this, see page 56 in http://www.ryber.se/wp-content/EssentialTestDesign.pdf ) in classes to explain how scripted testing and exploratory testing intertwines; and to explain that most of our testing is somewhere in the middle of the continuum. But I have also had some issues with this […]
I saw an interesting interview with Rob Sabourin today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZRXdaN7gkY (Thanks for the tip, Jon Bach!) One thing he says in this video is: “… There are a lot of template junkies out there. [Testers are] filling out templates and not actually testing. That frustrates testers…” Hey, isn’t this the same thing that happens in strictly scripted testing […]
I thought of this the other day when rethinking a situation that was described in the experience report from Petter Mattson on “Swedish Workshop on Exploratory Testing” (SWET1). Let’s say that you have 100 Paper Airplane builders in your team. They all follow scripted instructions on how to fold a paper in order to create […]
Well, to many people this is nothing new. But still, there are a lot of testers, and indeed test leads, that still think that Exploratory Testing is a technique that can be used in testing. To some extent, it has to do with that both Cem Kaner and James Bach have used this term amongst […]
Let us assume you are a test lead and you have a group of testers. Some are totally new to the profession and some are old and experienced. In the scripted test environment you might setup a test matrix, plan test cases and allocate them among the testers. Some of the testers might have been […]
When looking for personel in general it is common that we want passionate people who love their work. Most passionate testers that I read about are usually part of the context-driven movement. Can there be testers out there that are really passionate about how they work in the heavy scripted test environment, where someone else […]
In many organisations it is hard to change how you are working. You might be bound to certain CM tools, how things are expected to be planned, documentation systems, management expectations, project management expectations and so on. In many of these traditional environments you might also use the regular test plans, test matrices, test specifications, […]
Exploratory Testing in its purest form is an approach that focus on learning, evolution and freedom. Cem Kaner’s definition is to the point: “Exploratory software testing is a style of software testing that emphasizes the personal freedom and responsibility of the individual tester to continually optimize the value of her work by treating test-related learning, […]
From a managerial perspective without knowing too much about testing, your sole experience comes from the scripted test environment… What does Scripted Testing include? Control over what is to be tested, in the sense that you have a clear coverage of test cases on certain areas. Reports where you can see exactly how many test […]
Sometimes it is said that each test case must have an expected result, or even worse, that each step of a test case must have an expected result. This is the extreme of scripted testing that I dislike for two reasons: * It takes a lot of time to write and follow detailed test cases; […]