Exploratory Testing Trivia 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In exploratory testing, what is the 'Saboteur Tour' designed to test?
- Error handling and recovery when things go wrong (Correct answer)
- The most commonly used happy paths
- Integration with third-party APIs
- Performance under high load
Correct answer: Error handling and recovery when things go wrong
The Saboteur Tour focuses on trying to make the application fail by providing bad data, wrong sequences, or unexpected inputs to test error handling.
Question 2: Which testing pioneer developed the 'rapid software testing' methodology that heavily incorporates exploratory testing?
- Cem Kaner
- James Bach (Correct answer)
- Boris Beizer
- Glenford Myers
Correct answer: James Bach
James Bach developed Rapid Software Testing (RST), a methodology emphasizing skill-based exploratory approaches over scripted test execution.
Question 3: What is the typical time-box length for an exploratory testing session according to SBTM guidelines?
- 15-30 minutes
- 45-90 minutes (Correct answer)
- 2-4 hours
- Half a workday
Correct answer: 45-90 minutes
SBTM sessions are typically time-boxed to 45-90 minutes to maintain focus and allow for meaningful progress without fatigue.
Question 4: Which heuristic mnemonic is commonly used by exploratory testers to remember what aspects of an application to explore?
- SMART
- SFDIPOT (Correct answer)
- INVEST
- FIRST
Correct answer: SFDIPOT
SFDIPOT (Structure, Function, Data, Integration, Platform, Operations, Time) is a heuristic product coverage outline used to guide exploratory testing.
Question 5: What distinguishes 'freestyle' exploratory testing from 'structured' exploratory testing?
- Freestyle uses automation while structured is manual
- Freestyle has no charter or guiding goal while structured uses charters to focus testing (Correct answer)
- Freestyle is faster and structured is more thorough
- Freestyle targets UI only while structured includes APIs
Correct answer: Freestyle has no charter or guiding goal while structured uses charters to focus testing
Freestyle exploratory testing has no predefined direction, while structured exploratory testing uses charters to provide focus and accountability.
Question 6: In exploratory testing, what is a 'test oracle'?
- A senior tester who reviews test results
- A mechanism for determining whether the software passed or failed a test (Correct answer)
- A tool that generates test cases automatically
- A database of known defects
Correct answer: A mechanism for determining whether the software passed or failed a test
A test oracle is any mechanism—specification, heuristic, or comparison—used to determine whether observed software behavior is correct or incorrect.
Question 7: Which concept from exploratory testing describes using a similar, working product to judge the behavior of the product under test?
- Heuristic oracle
- Comparable product oracle (Correct answer)
- Specification oracle
- Expert oracle
Correct answer: Comparable product oracle
A comparable product oracle (sometimes called a 'sameness oracle') uses a reference product to judge whether the system under test behaves correctly.
Exploratory Testing Trivia 3
In exploratory testing, what is the 'Saboteur Tour' designed to test?