Research and Investigation n 75
operational software system is often impossible, particularly when the system is busi-
ness critical and no test version is available. However, experimentation still serves a
valuable purpose for functional, volume, and performance testing. It is also a good
way to gain familiarity with the functioning system by allowing the investigator to
see the interaction of different system components. Experimenting with something
is often the best way to learn how something works (e.g., trial and error).
Experimentation is useful when faced with an unknown software system,
when the first step is to understand the purpose of the system. Is the system built
to support nonuser interactions (batch processing), task ...