Exploratory Software Testing

Chapter 3. Exploratory Testing in the Small

“Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.”

—Rich Kulawiec

So You Want to Test Software?

The above quote is one of my favorites and captures much of the complexity of software testing in a single sentence. If we can’t tell features from bugs, how can we possibly do a good job of testing? If the product’s specification and documentation aren’t good enough to tell bugs from features, isn’t testing impossible? If the symptoms of failure are so subtle as to evade both automated and manual attempts to expose them, isn’t testing useless?

Imagine the following job description and ask yourself whether you would apply for it:

Software tester wanted. Position requires ...