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Exploratory Testing Explained

Jul 22, 2024

Exploratory Testing Explained

Introduction

  • Presenter: Pramod
  • Platform: Resting Academy
  • Topic: What is Exploratory Testing and how to do it effectively

Key Concepts

  • Exploratory Testing: A style of software testing emphasizing individual tester freedom and responsibility.
  • Origin: Coined by Cam Kaner around 25 years ago.
  • Main Focus: Personal freedom, responsibility, and optimizing the quality of testing work through learning and exploring.
  • Objective: To discover, investigate, and learn about applications, finding bugs early.
  • Drawback: Without detailed requirements, some features might be misunderstood as bugs.

Definition

  • Definition: A style that emphasizes the tester's freedom and responsibility to optimize testing quality through continuous learning, design, and execution of test cases during testing.
  • Approach: Understanding the application, playing around with it, and designing test cases based on exploration.
  • Agile Model: Related to discovery, investigation, and learning.
  • On the Fly Testing: Another term, focusing on exploring without pre-defined test cases.

Misconceptions

  • Not random or monkey testing (click-click-click approach).
  • Intentional exploration and learning, not just stress testing.

How to Perform Exploratory Testing

  • Prepare Notes: Session-based, e.g., 60 minutes exploring session.
  • Learn, Observe, and Design: Learn about the application and come up with new test cases.
  • Practical Examples: Shown with the CRM application (Orange CRM).

Tools for Exploratory Testing

  • Bug Magnet: Chrome extension for easy testing.
  • Video Recorder: Capturing sessions to present findings to developers.
  • Exploratory Testing Chrome Extension: Another helpful tool.
  • SpiraCapture: Tool for detailed capture.

Practical Demonstration

  • Example: Orange CRM application
    • Session Start: Testing and noting down findings.
    • Form Name: fr_system and it's a POST request.
    • Error Handling: If user doesn't exist, an error is shown.
    • Character Limits: Username requires at least 5 characters, max length is 40.
    • API Requests: Observed using the network tab in dev tools, noting data sent in POST requests.

Benefits of Exploratory Testing

  • Less Preparation Required: Jump straight into testing.
  • Find Important Bugs Early: Effective at discovering significant issues.
  • Intelligent Process: Simulates real-world usage scenarios.
  • Detective Reasoning: Deducting results based on exploration.
  • Review Limitation: Test cases can't be reviewed (only session reports).

Disadvantages

  • On-the-Fly Testing: Tests can't be systematically reviewed; only session notes are available.

Additional Resources

  • Guide on Exploratory Testing: Available for download.
  • Mind Map: To visualize the exploration process.
  • Other Tools: Video recorders, Chrome extensions, etc.

Conclusion

  • Call to Action: Subscribe to the channel for more software testing and development content.
  • Engage: Like the video to help the algorithm and spread the knowledge.
  • Next Steps: Watch additional videos on the channel and explore the provided resources.

Thank you for watching! - Pramod, Resting Academy

Full transcript