Ad-hoc testing

We have lot of other testing formats and techniques but adding to that we have another technique called the Ad-hoc testing. Most of us have heard of the word ad-hoc, but how it is related to testing?

Ad-hoc testing is not like other formal testing its totally an informal technique where the sequence of activities followed in other testing method is not followed correctly. Also It does not use any formal techniques to design test cases such as BVA, Equivalence Partitioning etc.,

After a number of planned test cases are executed, a rough testing will be done to check if the system or the software is working as per the functions and all specifications are met. Here the system will be operated without any SRS document and Functional specifications. It’s more of a new person perspective in terms of using the software. The testing process of testing a system without any formal procedure can be termed as ad hoc testing.

This method is applicable for all phases of testing. Very useful in finding defects that got missed at various levels of testing.

Various methods are followed to do Ad-hoc testing such as,

1. Buddy Testing
2. Pair Testing
3. Defect Seeding
4. Exploratory Testing

Buddy Testing

A developer and Tester are formed as buddies so that they can help each other mutually working a single aim of finding the defects.

Here the developer helps the tester to know how the program or the unit works so that he can do tests effectively in the mean time the defects can be rectified then and there without any delay. Usually buddy testing is normally done at the unit test phase where the testing and coding activity are done together.

Pair Testing

In this approach two testers will work as a team and will help each other in terms of their own views and ideas. Here lot of knowledge sharing and experience sharing will happen in order to test the application effectively. It is most likely that helping out each other with their own ideologies this will result in uncovering of defects which were not identified in the past during other test techniques.

Defect Seeding

This method is like playing hide and seek with defects. One group of the project will inject the defects into the program and another team will try to uncover it and rectify it. The concept behind this is that the injected defects may help to identify the unidentified defects.

Exploratory testing

This we have covered in detail in the other chapter.

Exploratory testing

Exploratory testing is a hands-on approach in which testers are involved in minimum planning and maximum test execution. The 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. The test design and test execution activities are performed in parallel typically without formally documenting the test conditions, test cases or test scripts. This does not mean that other, more formal testing techniques will not be used. For example, the tester may decide to use boundary value analysis but will think through and test the most important boundary values without necessarily writing them down. Some notes will be written during the exploratory-testing session, so that a report can be produced afterwards.

Test logging is undertaken as test execution is performed, documenting the key aspects of what is tested, any defects found and any thoughts about possible further resting. A key aspect of exploratory testing is learning: learning by the tester about the software, its use, its strengths and its weaknesses. As its name implies, exploratory testing is about exploring, finding out about the software, what it does, what it doesn't do, what works and what doesn't work. The tester is constantly

making decisions about what to test next and where to spend the (limited) time. This is an approach that is most useful when there are no or poor specifications and when time is severely limited. It can also serve to complement other, more formal testing, helping to establish greater confidence in the software. In this way, exploratory testing can be used as a check on the formal test process by helping to ensure that the most serious defects have been found.