What is the difference between Smoke test and Sanity test

As testers, we ask a lot of questions. Sometimes, we need to answer a lot of questions too. Few days ago, I was asked the question:

"What is smoke and sanity testing and how is it connected with high level test cases?"

I asked why he wanted to know the answer and pasted the link to blog post by Michael Bolton:
http://www.developsense.com/blog/2011/11/smoke-testing-vs-sanity-testing/

I told them that it is much more important to practice testing and improve one's testing skills than know answers to such questions. When I mentioned about BBST, I was asked if BBST meant Behavior Based Software Testing. I was disappointed and emailed the tester my first book - 'What If... A collection of tips on software testing'. To my surprise, the tester had already bought this book. I was even more disappointed.

The next day, I received this email from the tester:

Since I have read this book before and at that time, I have just read it like other testing guides and have joined people just to ask my testing queries those were not for testing but was for interview preparations.

But after your advice , I have started reading this book again. This time I am feeling like I have started learning the basics of testing  very first time, since the time you have just sent the book to read. You would be amazed sir, that since evening to this time I have just read only 6 pages of it and this time I have not skipped any links or any thing.

Now I am feeling like this book is the best gift given by anyone and once more thing initially i was using it like quick recap but today i feel that it is more like an encyclopedia of testing basics.

Sir, I would request you to just help me in getting to draw the Mindmap and also with basics of drawing these mindmaps (But at least this week i wouldn't get time for  this, not because i have a lot of work in office but I have your book to complete it with all its link with better understanding).

I am happy that he has found the book useful. Balaji from ZenQA, Hyderabad also finds the book useful. When I met him last time, he told me that he uses the book as a compulsory reading for the new joinees. 

Let us stop worrying about what Sanity or Smoke tests mean. Let us focus on our skills instead!!!

PS: I have titled this post as "What is the difference between Smoke test and Sanity test" to attract more hits. I hope more and more testers read this post and the post by Michael Bolton.

Leia Mais…

The Perimeter Test: A new test idea?

We have bug bashes in our company. In every release, the tester invites other testers to test his/her feature. Fresh eyes, different experience usually helps in bringing new test ideas and bugs to the forefront. I usually participate in such bug bashes as it exposes me to different features and test ideas. It is a good opportunity to practice testing and a good break from regular testing too.

In one such testing session, I found a bug where the button was tapped even though I did not tap the button. On further investigation, I realized that the focus of the button was much more than the button area. Let me highlight the issue with the help of the following image.

On the left image, we have a problem. The button's perimeter is displayed by red color.
But when the user taps or clicks anywhere within the green rectangle, the button is still clicked.

On the right image, the focus of the button is limited to the area highlighted by red color. On tapping or clicking outside the red area, the button is not activated.

How do we usually test such buttons?

• Clicking on the button
• Changing the state of the button - enabled/disabled
• Test the default state of the button
• Combining the button action with other actions

What am I proposing?

I want to include a test to click around the button to check if the focus of the button is restricted to the button area or extends outside the button area. According to me, the name for the test idea: "The Perimeter Test".  

Why this bug is important:

a. The user might not know that the click outside the button behaves similar to click on the button.

b. It would be confusing if there is little space between adjacent buttons. The user will not know which button was clicked.

c. The trust on the application's behavior is reduced as the user is not sure of what to expect.

I would like to highlight the Perimeter Test's importance on mobile devices and areas where multiple buttons are placed close by. Try 'Inspect element' on the button and discover the area quickly. Also, the Perimeter Test might not take more time. A quick test to highlight an important bug.

I am happy to give the test idea a name and hope to come up with more such test ideas.

What do you think about 'The Perimeter Test'?

Just to confirm: This is different from "Boundary Testing technique".

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