can we say Sanity Testing = Adhoc testing

Hi,

Sanity testing used to test its testability and understandability i.e to check that the build is stable or not without using the test cases.

In the same way Adhoc testing is also means that testing the software without knowing the functionality i.e without using the test cases.

can we say Sanity Testing = Adhoc testing

Can any one explain the reason if not equal.

:)
Ramana.

Hey Ramana,

Sanity testing is not equal to adhoc testing.

I agree to what you said regarding Sanity Testing - testing performed on initial build to check for builds stability ( check with the main functionality - usually done by test managers or senior s/w test engineers), but adhoc testing sorry.

Adhoc testing is testing done when we do not have any specifications(BRS) or manuals or documents related to software.. We do not have any specifications regarding the s/w but still we are given the s/w for testing...
so in this case we either
refer/browse thru the net for some more information or
similar products in the market..
or some of the seniors or developers
or discuss in group by just browsing thru the product etc.,

based on these we prepare test cases randomly without any specifications ...

we prepare test case but as we do not have specific details related to the object.. we do not follow any protocols / standards in preparing the test cases... (say we have a price field so from our knowledge we know its got to be digits as the boundary values are not know we can take the test data randomly and we also know that it cannot be in alphabets ) :-)
(thats why called adhoc - unplanned, informal)

Bhavani

Hi Bhavani,

Thank u Again . Now its clear 4 me about Adhoc Testing.

Keep explaining...

bye
:)
Ramana.

Hi Ramana_gl,

Sanity Testing NOT= Adhoc Testing,

Adhoc testing is followed when no complete information of the s/w is available and the time in hand is not sufficient for the testing process. Adhoc testing is functionality testing with no knowledge of the s/w under testing. It is termed as Adhoc coz it is an informal method of testing. We write test cases in Adhoc testing with no hard and fast rules. As rightly stated by ‘bvani’, we have to seek other sources of information on the s/w under testing. ‘bvani’ also listed some sources. One other major source of such information would be a person in the team who is experienced in the domain. Eg. If the project is on banking and financial system, then a person with knowledge and experience in banking domain would be a great source of information. So, after going through the other sources of information, we do write test cases on the s/w functionality in the Adhoc testing approach, but there is no guarantee that they are correct and complete. More explanation is given by ‘bvani’ on Adhoc testing that is very good.

While Adhoc testing techniques may have to be followed on some of the projects due to lack of knowledge and information of the s/w under testing, Sanity Testing needs to be done on every project irrespective of weather the knowledge and information is available or not.

We may or may not have the knowledge and information of the s/w under testing, but we will still have to do Sanity Testing to test the stability and understandability of the s/w. More information on sanity testing is available in earlier posts of this thread.

Any more clarifications required? Feel free to ask.