Dinosaur Egg - Testing

Hi Reader,

No, stop thinking of Jurassic Park!

“Then why have you put the topic as Dinosaur Egg Testing?” isn’t that you would like to ask me?

Again, No, I am not going to talk how to test a dinosaur egg but instead …

Exploratory Testing is something that is of very high interest among testers and lots of controversies come up when this topic of E.T. is put up in Yahoo/Google groups discussing on Testing/QA. I wanted to give it another dimension as per what I think it as and how to handle it. Here it goes …

__ Dinosaur Egg - Testing ___

“Pradeep, you still haven’t explained why you have put up the topic as Dinosaur Egg Testing and have further confused us that it has some relation to Exploratory Testing?” without shouting at me, are you trying to ask this? :D

Imagine you are exploring a forest which you have never been before and you are looking for some food to avoid starving (if this hasn’t interested you, further, imagine you are with your girl friend in that forest). The only thing you know in that forest is the place you started exploring is a safe place and you are exploring the forest for food (or anything, just understand the context).

Surprisingly, say you came across a Dinosaur’s egg and your girl friend screams out of fear (Now don’t imagine of hugging her to console, just like any other English movie and think something as a Tester).

Link with Exploratory Testing –

This scenario according to me is the best to explain in simple terms what Exploratory Testing means and how to go about it –

1) As per the above scenario, it is the egg (an unexpected result), which is causing someone to think how he/she reached that place. The egg caused an excitement in a Testers mind and hence the confusion starts as how to go back to the safe place?

2) It is not a good idea to look for places/trees you remember, when you were exploring after seeing the egg, instead it is a lesson to always look and mark such places while you are exploring, and sometimes you may land up directly at the Dinosaurs mouth.

3) Had you started exploring the forest by dropping some pebbles (data logging) that you can identify, you need not get excited when you see an egg.

4) Also if you are unable to re-trace the route you came, you should at least ensure that you don’t meet the Dino face-to-face (just like meeting your manager on a one on one), you should smell the route (investigate the further steps) you are taking.

5) Hope you reach the safe place. Now at least are you able to remember the way back to the Dino’s Nest, so that you know what route not to take? (Reproducibility)

6) The Dino need not be near its egg always and once you have seen the egg, you should expect the eggs to hatch and your problems to multiply soon (Analysis of a product as more features are going to be added) As a Tester in forest, you should always predict more nests (un explored bugs) and many Dino’s in the forest (Escape defects)

7) Guys, if you are a good Exploratory Tester in such a forest, your girl friend will be highly impressed (appraisal) and you need not stop exploring … Search, if you could find a better girl in the forest (Bonus).

__ End of __ Dinosaur Egg – Testing ___

"In search of food , sometimes , you yourself become food for someone"

Regards,

Pradeep Soundararajan