Exploratory Testing – The Best Perspective A Tester Needs

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Let us look at how an exploratory mindset can assist an exhaustive test suite in overcoming the pesticide paradox. Exploratory testing is an essential skill that every tester should acquire.

The article will have the following phrase as the foundation,

“The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of“

Leonardo da Vinci

As a tester it is important to have an artistic mindset. The example below shows us about how an artistic view is like.

For the normal eyes it is just a blot of ink whereas from an artistic way, the blot becomes like the given images below.

Here is a little stumbling crab.

A happy ostrich saying Hi.

Or just a gazing crocodile.

This is the kind of mindset a tester should develop in order to build a dynamic test suite.

PC: Harun Robert, Indian Artist.

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An exploratory tester’s view

Assume you are testing an application form that includes a submit button. You will have a set of input test cases and a submission test case in this case.

To the untrained eye, a test case on a submit button appears simple.

A tester can explore from a completely different perspective by exploring.

• A button click that would results in an API that carries some information. 
• A set of parameters that are part of the API with intended purposes.
• A data set which is to be processed by the Application’s source code.
• A CRUD operation to insert/update data in the application’s database.
• Event streaming in the database is something to note as well.
• A monitoring tool set in place tracking the data/usage of the system components.

In addition, a tester can incorporate many strategies as follows,

Model based testing, Analytical strategy, Reactive tests based on historical defects, Session based test management are examples of few such strategies a tester can incorporate during the test phases.

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Thus the possibilities are numerous if a tester can develop exploratory mindset. Such testers who possesses such skills can add tremendous value to the Testing team because it add’s great value to the quality of the software application. 

During test execution, the key is to ensure not to wander away from the requirement. Because all features are bound to the requirement.

Ultimately, the requirement is what needs to be delivered. The main need for exploratory tests is to create a test suite that covers in and out of the application in all possible ways. By making sure it meets the requirements in all given scenarios & overcome the paradox of bugs.

Happy Testing!

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