What is Agile testing?

What is Agile testing? Agile testing is a software testing practice that follows the principles of the agile manifesto, emphasizing testing from the perspective of customers who will utilize the system. Agile testing does not emphasize rigidly defined testing procedures, but rather focuses on testing iteratively against newly developed code until quality is achieved from an end customer's perspective. In other words,...

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How Many Verifications Per Test?

How Many Verifications Per Test? Whether writing manual or automated tests you may have asked yourself how much stuff you should include in each test. Sometimes you may write tests with multiple steps that look like this…Test #1Step 1 - Do A. Expect B.Step 2 - Do C. Expect D.Step 3 - Do E. Expect F.Or instead, you may write three separate one step tests…Test #2Step 1 - Do A. Expect B.Test #3Step 1 - Do C. Expect D.Test...

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How often do we apply blink testing?

How often do we apply blink testing? I apply blink testing any time I can arrange to be confronted with a blizzard of data: comparing screens (I glance at a million pixels, then at another million pixels, and in an instant I see the tiny difference between them), scrolling through huge log files, or watching an extremely rapid process take place. Anything that seems overwhelming to take in triggers me to consider a blink test....

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Philosophers of Testing

Philosophers of Testing Do you know what a philosopher is? I think a philosopher is someone who develops philosophy, as opposed to someone who accepts philosophy strictly ready-made from a trusted authority. By philosophy I mean an account of what the world is (Ontology) or how I can know about the world (Epistemology) or what matters about the world (Axiology). I’m a philosopher....

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Question: How do you stay sharp as a tester?

Question: How do you stay sharp as a tester? Shrini writes: How does a good tester keep his testing abilities sharpened all the times. compare it with keep our body fit as we grow old ( walking, jogging and going to Gym, eating healthyfood etc) - what you suggest for keeping “Tester health� in ‘fit and sound� condition? Testing is analysis and problem solving. Here is...

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Exploratory Testing Research

Exploratory Testing Research Good research on testing is hard to find. Why? One reason is that testing does not belong to the field of Computer Science. I mean, sure, some of it does. There is some value to describing and testing an algorithm to efficiently cover a directed graph. But covering directed graphs is not my problem, most of the time. Most of the time, my problem is how to work with other people to simplify a...

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Stress Test Demonstration

Stress Test Demonstration I’m experimenting with the use of BBTestAssistant to create little testing lessons. I’m starting to like BBTestAssistant quite a lot for recording my exploratory testing sessions. Here is a six minute demonstration of one kind of stress testing that I call “instant stress testing.” This is one of the quick test heuristics I have discussed in other blog entries. The basic idea is to look for a...

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Quick Oracle: Blink Testing

Quick Oracle: Blink Testing Background: In testing, an “oracle” is a principle or mechanism by which we recognize a problem. This contrasts with “coverage”, which has to do with getting a problem to occur. All tests cover a product in some way. All tests must include an oracle of some kind or else you would call it a tour rather than a test. (You might also call it a test idea, test activity, or a test case fragment,...

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To Repeat Tests or Not to Repeat

To Repeat Tests or Not to Repeat One of the serious social diseases of the testing craft is the obsession with repetition. Is that test repeatable? Is that test process repeatable? Have we repeated those tests? These questions are often asked in a tone of worry or accusation, sometimes accompanied by rhetorical quips about the importance of a disciplined process– without explanation of how discipline requires repetition. (Before...

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The Simplicity of Complexity

The Simplicity of Complexity One of the experiences I share with a lot of people in this modern world is that I forget phone numbers. I never used to. The problem is that my mobile phone remembers them for me. So, phone numbers no longer stick in my own head. If I want to call a colleague, I first look for my phone. If I can’t find my phone, I don’t make the call. Another way of looking at this is that my life has been...

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