How to Choose between Exploratory and Scripted Testing
Article By Andrew Thompson originally published February 25, 2003 in the stickyminds.com
Exploratory testing has gained increased recognition as a valid testing methodology. As a test manager or engineer, you may be considering whether or not to use exploratory testing on your next project. However, as with other aspects of testing, such as automation, you must choose your method carefully to ensure a successful outcome. In this article we examine the factors you need to consider when making that choice.
In his article “What Is Exploratory Testing?” James Bach defines exploratory testing as “test design and test execution at the same time.” In contrast, planned, or scripted, testing has a test planning and design phase, followed by test execution. The products of the test design phase are generally test plans, test specifications, and test cases and scripts. These products are then used during test execution to conduct the formal testing of a system.
In this document we will examine the factors influencing the effectiveness of both approaches, as well as combination and hybrid approaches, to select the most effective and efficient methods within the constraints of time and resources.
November 14th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
This appears to be a verbatim copy of an article listed recently on stickyminds and noted there as “first published in 2003″. The “Read the rest of the article” link points to the stickyminds site, but without the comments. I fear that the combination of the date (14 Nov 2009) and the link to the original stickyminds article without the comments may mislead readers into thinking this is a recently written article.
Hopefully, they will note the “originally published February 25, 2003″ in the stickyminds article.
Would consider either linking to the stickyminds article with the comments, or updating your posting to show the original article was posted over 6 years ago?