Exploratory testing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:27, 12 August 2018

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<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ghazi|first=Ahmad Nauman|last2=Petersen|first2=Kai|last3=Bjarnason|first3=Elizabeth|last4=Runeson|first4=Per|date=2018|title=Levels of Exploration in Exploratory Testing: From Freestyle to Fully Scripted|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8357560/?reload=true|journal=IEEE Access|language=en-US|volume=6|pages=26416–26423|doi=10.1109/access.2018.2834957|issn=2169-3536}}</ref>'''Exploratory testing''' is an approach to [[software testing]] that is concisely described as simultaneous learning, [[test design]] and test execution. [[Cem Kaner]], who coined the term in 1984,<ref>Cem Kaner, "[http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/QAIExploring.pdf A Tutorial in Exploratory Testing]", p.2</ref> defines exploratory testing as "a style of software testing that emphasizes the personal freedom and responsibility of the individual tester to continually optimize the quality of his/her work by treating test-related learning, test design, test execution, and test result interpretation as mutually supportive activities that run in parallel throughout the project."<ref>Cem Kaner, ''[http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/QAIExploring.pdf A Tutorial in Exploratory Testing]'', p. 36.</ref>

While the software is being tested, the tester learns things that together with experience and [[creativity]] generates new good tests to run. Exploratory testing is often thought of as a [[black box testing]] technique. Instead, those who have studied it consider it a test ''approach'' that can be applied to any test technique, at any stage in the development process. The key is not the test technique nor the item being tested or reviewed; the key is the cognitive engagement of the tester, and the tester's responsibility for managing his or her time.<ref>Cem Kaner, ''[http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/QAIExploring.pdf A Tutorial in Exploratory Testing]'', p. 37-39, 40- .</ref>