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Makati Testers MeetupRapid Software Testing – The Controversial Stuff!!

August 2016

Rapid Software Testing

Started out as an offshoot of Context Driven Testing

Authored by James Bach & Michael Bolton

Mind-set, skill-set and testing methodology

Contains interesting ideas

Deliberately(?) controversial

There’s no such thing as

“Best Practices”

What do you mean by “context”, anyway?

SST

PEOPLE

Product

Technology

Client project

Agile or Waterfall

Co-located

Does one standard “Best Practice” really make sense?

“Checking”and

“Testing”are different

“Checking”

Operating a product to check specific facts about it

An information gathering activity that, in principle, could be done by machine

The check itself requires no skills but good checking is surrounded by activities that require many skills, including testing, programming, and project management skills)

If you’re this guy

You have two choices:

“Testing”

Questioning a product in order to evaluate it (RST)

Evaluating a product by learning about it through exploration and experimentation (RST)

A questioning activity that employs skills, senses, emotions and intelligence that we are unable to automate (RST)

A technical investigation for the purpose of revealing the quality of a software product on behalf of stakeholders (Kaner)

Gathering information with the intention of informing a decision (Weinberg)

Note that nothing in these definitions implies you have to start with an OPERABLE product

Acquiring the competence, motivation and credibility for...

Creating the conditions necessary for...

Evaluating a product by learning about it through exploration and experimentation, which includes to some

degree: questioning, study, modelling, observation and inference, including...

Operating a product to check

specific facts about it

...so that you help your clients make informed decisions about

risk

And perhaps make the product

better too!

Testing is...

There’s no such thing as “automated testing”

Or “manual testing”

RapidSoftwareTestingForManagers.pdf-11

Test Cases are NOTTesting

Test Cases are NOT

a useful metric

We finished 5 pieces of fruit today

RapidSoftwareTestingForManagers.pdf-6

It is NOT the Tester’s job to “break the

product” or to be the Quality Gatekeeper

Testing is notQUALITY

ASSURANCE