What does it mean to test? What is yours best testing ever conducted? Read this and share your thoughts. This post was originally published on Miagi-Do School of Software testing blog. Since it is down I am publishing it here.

1. The​ ​best​ ​testing​ ​ever!
Testing​ ​is​ ​more​ ​than​ ​banging​ ​keys
by
Łukasz​ ​Morawski
Have​ ​you​ ​ever​ ​thought​ ​about​ ​the​ ​best​ ​testing​ ​you’ve​ ​ever​ ​conducted?​ ​Was​ ​it​ ​a​ ​super
fancy​ ​test​ ​technique​ ​usage?​ ​Or​ ​maybe​ ​incredible​ ​tool​ ​with​ ​high​ ​Return-On-Investment​ ​factor?
Or​ ​clean,​ ​limpid​ ​test​ ​script​ ​happily​ ​rerun​ ​for​ ​a​ ​thousand​ ​time?​ ​For​ ​me,​ ​the​ ​best​ ​testing​ ​I’ve​ ​ever
conducted​ ​was​ ​without​ ​touching​ ​a​ ​keyboard.​ ​Sounds​ ​unbelievably​ ​when​ ​you​ ​live​ ​in​ ​a​ ​world​ ​of
test​ ​scripts​ ​and​ ​bug​ ​reports.​ ​Sounds​ ​ludicrously​ ​when​ ​you​ ​believe​ ​in​ ​100%​ ​test​ ​coverage.
I​ ​remember​ ​this​ ​because​ ​at​ ​first​ ​I​ ​didn’t​ ​fully​ ​understand​ ​what​ ​happened.​ ​The
enlightenment​ ​and​ ​understanding​ ​came​ ​later.​ ​It​ ​started​ ​as​ ​usual​ ​from​ ​chit​ ​chat​ ​with​ ​developer
about​ ​the​ ​feature​ ​to​ ​test.​ ​I​ ​like​ ​to​ ​start​ ​this​ ​way​ ​because​ ​I​ ​can​ ​get​ ​more​ ​information​ ​than​ ​from​ ​dry
description.​ ​And​ ​what’s​ ​more​ ​important,​ ​I​ ​can​ ​get​ ​his​ ​real​ ​feelings​ ​about​ ​it.​ ​We​ ​discussed,​ ​I
asked​ ​questions​ ​-​ ​he​ ​answered​ ​then​ ​he​ ​asked​ ​some​ ​questions.​ ​We​ ​were​ ​talking​ ​about​ ​what​ ​the
feature​ ​does​ ​and​ ​does​ ​not.​ ​And​ ​what​ ​could​ ​do.​ ​What​ ​is​ ​easy​ ​and​ ​quick​ ​to​ ​achieve​ ​and​ ​what​ ​is
hard.
At​ ​some​ ​point​ ​he​ ​realized​ ​that​ ​something​ ​important​ ​was​ ​missing​ ​and​ ​he​ ​was​ ​not​ ​happy
about​ ​it:​ ​“I​ ​need​ ​to​ ​work​ ​on​ ​this​ ​a​ ​little​ ​more”​ ​he​ ​said.​ ​“Great!”​ ​-​ ​I​ ​happily​ ​moved​ ​to​ ​the​ ​next​ ​task,
no​ ​afterthoughts.​ ​I​ ​did​ ​not​ ​think​ ​about​ ​this​ ​for​ ​some​ ​time​ ​until​ ​from​ ​unknown​ ​reason​ ​I​ ​recalled​ ​a
quote​ ​“Testing​ ​is​ ​more​ ​that​ ​banging​ ​keys”.​ ​And​ ​it​ ​was​ ​it​ ​-​ ​my​ ​best​ ​testing​ ​ever.​ ​Conducted
without​ ​even​ ​touching​ ​my​ ​keyboard.
The​ ​phrase​ ​I​ ​recalled​ ​comes​ ​from​ ​Gerald​ ​Weinberg’s​ ​“Perfect​ ​Software”,​ ​the​ ​book​ ​that
fate​ ​has​ ​fortunately​ ​thrown​ ​on​ ​my​ ​path​ ​(to​ ​be​ ​honest​ ​-​ ​I’ve​ ​helped​ ​the​ ​fate​ ​with​ ​this).​ ​Why​ ​do​ ​I
consider​ ​this​ ​as​ ​best​ ​testing​ ​ever?​ ​I​ ​helped​ ​the​ ​feature​ ​to​ ​be​ ​better​ ​without​ ​raising​ ​any​ ​bug
report,​ ​starting​ ​any​ ​test​ ​session,​ ​moving​ ​around​ ​any​ ​cards​ ​on​ ​board​ ​-​ ​just​ ​conversation.​ ​Just
brains​ ​not​ ​hands.​ ​That’s​ ​right,​ ​testing​ ​takes​ ​a​ ​lot​ ​more​ ​activity​ ​than​ ​clicking​ ​and​ ​pressing​ ​keys
so​ ​don’t​ ​let​ ​the​ ​illusion​ ​misguide​ ​you.