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Exploratory Testing

Exploratory testing is a hands-on testing approach that emphasizes minimal planning and maximum execution, allowing testers to design and execute tests in parallel without formal documentation. It is particularly useful when the testing team consists of experienced testers or when critical applications require early iteration. While it has advantages such as quick bug detection and adaptability, it also has disadvantages like reliance on tester expertise and potential oversight of defects due to unfamiliarity with the application.

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11 views15 pages

Exploratory Testing

Exploratory testing is a hands-on testing approach that emphasizes minimal planning and maximum execution, allowing testers to design and execute tests in parallel without formal documentation. It is particularly useful when the testing team consists of experienced testers or when critical applications require early iteration. While it has advantages such as quick bug detection and adaptability, it also has disadvantages like reliance on tester expertise and potential oversight of defects due to unfamiliarity with the application.

Uploaded by

Siva Ranjini H
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Exploratory

testing
What is exploratory testing?
1. The test planning involves the creation of a test charter, a short
declaration of the scope of a short (1 to 2 hour) time-boxed test
effort, the objectives and possible approaches to be used.

2. Exploratory testing is a hands-on approach in which testers are


involved in minimum planning and maximum test
execution

3. The test design and test execution activities are performed in parallel
typically without formally documenting the test conditions, test cases
or test scripts.For example, the tester may decide to us boundary value
analysis but will think through and test the most important boundary
values without necessarily writing them down
When to use Exploratory Testing?
Exploratory testing can be used
extensively when

• The testing team has experienced


testers

•Early iteration is required

•There is a critical application

•New testers entered into the team


Exemple of Exploratory
Testing
Let’s suppose someone is driving a car to a place in a new
area without a map.
The person driving the car will use various common
techniques to reach the place, such as:
● Getting the map of the area
● Travelling in some random direction to figure
out the place
● Calling up and asking a friend for the route
● Asking for directions by going to a nearby gas
station

The same idea can be extended to exploratory testing:


Ways to do exploratory
testing.
Guess
es
Guesses are used to find part of the program that is likely to have more errors.
Previous experience of working on a similar product / software / technology helps
in guessing.
Architectural diagrams and use
cases
Architectural diagrams
describe the interactions and
relationships between different
components and modules. Use
cases give an understanding of the
product’s usage from the end user’s
perspective.
Past
defects
Studying the defects reported in the
previous releases helps in understanding
those features of the software that are
expected to have maximum defects.
Error handling
Error handling is that part of the code which takes appropriate actions in case of
any failure. Exploratory testing could be done using different scenarios to test graceful
error handling.
Discussions

Exploratory testing could also be planned based on the understanding of the


software during project discussions and meetings.
Questions and checklists
Questions like “what, when, how, who and why” can provide clues for
exploratory testing of the software.
Advantages of Exploratory Testing
1. Less preparation is needed and important
bugs are found quickly
2. Thinking on your feet, reacting quickly
is encouraged and more defects are
uncovered
3. It can be used to review the work done
by another tester
4. Exploratory testing can catch defects
that may have been missed in the test
cases
5. In case of limited time, exploratory testing
can be used to test new features while
regression testing can be used for existing
Disadvantages of Exploratory Testing
1. As the tests are invented and performed randomly, they
can’t be reviewed in advance and it can be difficult to
show which tests have to be run.
2. Testing is dependent on tester’s knowledge, skill and
experience.
3. Gaining familiarity with an application takes time, so there is
a possibility of defects being missed if the tester has less
knowledge of the website or application
Conclusions
In Software Engineering,
Exploratory testing is performed to
overcome the limitations of scripted
testing. It helps in improving Test Case
suite. It empathizes on learning and
adaptability.
Exploratory testing is vital for any
successful application. How and when
you use it depends on your
circumstances. What are the needs of
your application?
What resources are available to
you? How much budget do you have?
The advantage of crowdsourced

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