EXPLORATORY TESTING EXPLAINED

ALEKSIS TULONEN

COMIQ OY

www.comiq.fi

www.commonsensetesting.org

I want to thank James Bach and Michael Bolton for the discussions we’ve had related to this topic. Much of my current understanding has came from those discussions.

TESTING

Experimenting with something in order to evaluate it.

Testing is about mental engagement.

EXPLORATORY TESTING

An approach to testing that emphasizes testers ability to explore an unknown object or space through concurrent test design and test execution.

Explore = travel through (an unfamiliar area) in order to learn about it (Oxford Dictionaries)

FREEDOM & RESPONSIBILITY

“A style of software testing that emphasizes the personal freedom and responsibility of the individual tester to optimize the quality of his or her work by treating test design, test execution, test interpretation, and test-related learning as mutually supportive activities that continue in parallel throughout the project.” – Cem Kaner

At the end of each iteration, each team member should be able to say why she is worth more money to her employer than she was at the beginning. – (Brian Marick)

CREATING BY REACTING“Likewise, most musicians don't compose entire melodies in their head and then write them down; instead, they noodle around on a instrument for a while, playing with patterns and reacting to what they hear, adjusting and sculpting.

An essential aspect of a painter's canvas and a musical instrument is the immediacy with which the artist gets something there to react to. A canvas or sketchbook serves as an "external imagination", where an artist can grow an idea from birth to maturity by continuously reacting to what's in front of him.” – Bret Victor (Learnable Programming)

SUMMARIZING

Exploration, Freedom, Responsibility, Mental Engagement, Experiments, …

So what?

What’s the big deal?

SUMMARIZING• Most bugs are not obvious

• They are not out there in the open

• They are not found by following a script or walking the happy path

• They hide all over the spaces that tend to be BIG

If we want to have chances in finding them (bugs) – we need to become good at exploring

SOURCES OF INFORMATION• Evolving Understanding of Exploratory Testing (by

Michael Bolton) - http://www.developsense.com/resources.html#exploratory

• Exploratory Testing (by Cem Kaner) - http://www.testingeducation.org/BBST/exploratory/

• Telling Your Exploratory Story (by Jon Bach) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUdWm7ddgfU

• Exploratory Testing (by Jon Bach) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y4WCdJRfV4

• A Case Against Test Cases (by Jon Bach) - http://www.quardev.com/blog/a_case_against_test_cases

SOURCES OF INFORMATION• The Leprechauns of Software Engineering (by Laurent

Bossavit) - https://leanpub.com/leprechauns

• Perfect Software: And Other Illusions about Testing (by Jerry Weinberg) – You can find it from Amazon

• Explore It!: Reduce Risk and Increase Confidence with Exploratory Testing (by Elisabeth Hendrickson) – You can find it from Amazon

• Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas (by Seymour Papert) – You can find it from Amazon

• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (by Carol Dweck) – You can find it from Amazon

• “The Idea Accelerator” (by Ken Hudson) – You can find it from Amazon

SOURCES OF INFORMATION• “What is Exploratory Testing?”

http://swtester.blogspot.ca/2012/05/what-is-exploratory-testing.html (by Paul Carvalho)

• “The Little Black Book on Test Design” http://thetesteye.com/blog/2011/09/the-little-black-book-on-test-design/ (by Rikard Edgren)

• “To The New Tester” http://www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/958 (by James Bach)

• “Fractal Exploratory Testing” http://www.a-sisyphean-task.com/2013/01/fractal-exploratory-testing.html#.UpxHGWRgY3Y (by Adam Knight)

• “Learnable Programming” http://worrydream.com/LearnableProgramming/ (by Bret Victor)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION• “Two Forgotten Agile Values: Discipline and Skill”

http://www.exampler.com/discipline-and-skill.html (by Brian Marick)

• “Practical Tools For Playing Well With Others” http://oredev.org/2013/wed-fri-conference/practical-tools-for-playing-well-with-others (by J.B. Rainsberger)

• “Patterns for The People” http://vimeo.com/19124478 (by Kevlin Henney)

• “The Satir Interaction Model” http://sstc-online.org/2006/pdfs/JB1365Notes.pdf (by Virginia Satir)

• “Test Heuristics Cheat Sheet” http://testobsessed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/testheuristicscheatsheetv1.pdf (by Elisabeth Hendrickson)

Twitter: @al3ksisBlog: flowoftesting.wordpress.comLinkedIn: Aleksis TulonenEmail: aleksis.tulonen@gmail.com