Error guessing in Testing Fundamentals - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Error guessing in software testing?

Error guessing is a testing technique where testers use their experience to guess the most error-prone areas of the software and design test cases to find defects there.

beginner

Why is experience important in error guessing?

Experience helps testers predict where errors are likely to occur based on past bugs, common mistakes, and tricky parts of the software.

intermediate

How does error guessing differ from formal test design techniques?

Error guessing is informal and based on intuition and experience, while formal techniques use systematic methods and rules to design tests.

beginner

Give an example of an error guessing test case.

If a form requires a date, an error guessing test might try entering an invalid date like February 30 or letters instead of numbers to check how the system handles it.

intermediate

What is a limitation of error guessing?

It depends heavily on tester skill and experience, so it might miss errors if the tester is not familiar with the application or common bugs.

What does error guessing rely on most?

A Automated tools

B Tester experience and intuition

C Formal test cases

D Random input generation

Error guessing depends on the tester's experience and intuition to find likely error spots.

Which of these is an example of error guessing?

A Following a test script exactly

B Testing boundary values systematically

C Trying invalid inputs based on past bugs

D Using a checklist for requirements

Trying invalid inputs based on past bugs is a classic error guessing approach.

Error guessing is best described as:

A A formal testing method

B A random testing technique

C A tool-based testing method

D An experience-based testing technique

Error guessing is based on tester experience and intuition.

What is a risk of relying only on error guessing?

A Missing defects due to lack of experience

B Too many automated tests

C Over-documentation of tests

D Ignoring user requirements

Without experience, testers may miss important defects.

Which is NOT a characteristic of error guessing?

A Systematic and rule-based

B Depends on tester knowledge

C Focuses on error-prone areas

D Uses tester intuition

Error guessing is informal and not systematic or rule-based.

Explain what error guessing is and why it is useful in software testing.

Think about how testers use their past knowledge to find bugs.

Describe a situation where error guessing might help find a bug that formal test cases miss.

Consider unusual or invalid inputs that testers might try based on experience.