Exploratory Testing Trivia 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'pair testing' in the context of exploratory testing?
- Running the same test twice to verify consistency
- Two testers working together simultaneously on the same application (Correct answer)
- Pairing automated and manual tests
- Testing two competing products side by side
Correct answer: Two testers working together simultaneously on the same application
Pair testing involves two testers collaborating on the same session, with one driving and one observing, similar to pair programming.
Question 2: Which of the following is NOT a recognized tour type in Michael Hunter's 'The Tester's Fieldguide'?
- The FedEx Tour
- The Landmark Tour
- The Boundary Tour
- The Regression Tour (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The Regression Tour
The Regression Tour is not one of Hunter's named tours; the recognized tours include FedEx, Landmark, Intellectual, and others focused on exploration themes.
Question 3: In SBTM, what does the 'B' in the 'B/S/T' metric stand for?
- Bugs (Correct answer)
- Breakdowns
- Blockers
- Boundaries
Correct answer: Bugs
In SBTM, B/S/T stands for Bug investigation, Setup, and Test time — the three categories used to measure how session time was spent.
Question 4: What is the 'Garbage Collector's Tour' in exploratory testing designed to find?
- Memory leak issues and resource cleanup failures
- Orphaned data and leftover artifacts from previous operations (Correct answer)
- Corrupted files and log entries
- Deprecated features still accessible in the UI
Correct answer: Orphaned data and leftover artifacts from previous operations
The Garbage Collector's Tour looks for data or objects left behind by operations, such as orphaned records, temp files, or incomplete state cleanup.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'thread-based testing' as an exploratory strategy?
- Testing concurrent threads for race conditions
- Following a single user scenario across multiple application areas (Correct answer)
- Testing each module in isolation
- Running tests in parallel on multiple machines
Correct answer: Following a single user scenario across multiple application areas
Thread-based testing follows a single end-to-end scenario or user story across multiple parts of the application, tracing one 'thread' of functionality.
Question 6: What was the original title of Cem Kaner's influential conference paper that first introduced the term 'exploratory testing'?
- 'Testing Without a Script'
- 'A Tutorial in Exploratory Testing' (Correct answer)
- 'Tour Guides for Software Testers'
- 'Beyond the Test Plan'
Correct answer: 'A Tutorial in Exploratory Testing'
Cem Kaner's 1984 paper 'A Tutorial in Exploratory Testing' was the document that formally introduced and defined the term for the software testing community.
Question 7: Which agile practice is most directly analogous to exploratory testing in its emphasis on feedback loops and continuous learning?
- Test-driven development (TDD)
- Continuous integration (CI)
- Retrospectives
- Spike solutions (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Spike solutions
Spike solutions, like exploratory testing, are time-boxed investigations designed to reduce uncertainty and generate learning rather than produce production-ready output.
Exploratory Testing Trivia 4
What is 'pair testing' in the context of exploratory testing?