Manual Testing Course

Manual testing helps detect real-time user experience issues, visual defects, and usability concerns that automation may miss. It plays a critical role in early-stage development, exploratory testing, and when testing complex user interfaces.

Manual testing is best used for exploratory, usability, and ad-hoc testing. It’s ideal for short-term projects, UI-heavy applications, and situations where test cases change frequently, making automation less efficient.

Common types include black box testing, white box testing, exploratory testing, regression testing, and user acceptance testing. Each type targets different aspects of the software to ensure thorough validation.

Verification ensures the product is built correctly by checking documentation, design, and code. Validation checks if the final product meets user requirements through testing and reviews.

Test cases are step-by-step instructions that define how to validate a specific feature or function. They include input data, execution conditions, and expected outcomes, ensuring consistency in testing efforts.

A test plan outlines the testing strategy, objectives, scope, resources, schedule, and deliverables. It guides the testing process and ensures that all requirements are tested systematically.

A bug is an error found during testing. A defect is a deviation from the expected result in the software. While often used interchangeably, “defect” is more common in formal documentation.

Test cases are prioritized based on business impact, critical functionality, user frequency, and risk level. High-priority tests focus on core features and areas prone to defects.

Exploratory testing involves simultaneous learning and test execution without predefined test cases. Testers use their domain knowledge and creativity to uncover unexpected issues in the software.

Effective test cases require a clear understanding of the requirements and specifications. Each test case must include inputs, expected outputs, preconditions, and postconditions. Keeping them simple, traceable, and focused on individual functionalities ensures comprehensive coverage.

A test scenario is a high-level documentation of a functionality or feature that needs to be tested, whereas a test case is a detailed set of steps to verify that functionality. Scenarios are broader in scope, and multiple test cases can be derived from a single scenario.

A test plan outlines the strategy, objectives, resources, and schedule for testing activities. It includes details like scope, test items, environment, responsibilities, and risk assessment. It serves as a roadmap for ensuring that all testing goals are met efficiently.

When faced with unclear requirements, I proactively engage with stakeholders or business analysts to seek clarification. In the meantime, I use exploratory testing to understand the application behavior and prepare tentative test scenarios based on domain knowledge.

Boundary value analysis (BVA) is a black-box testing technique that focuses on testing the boundaries between partitions. For instance, if valid input is between 1 and 100, testers will check values like 0, 1, 100, and 101 to identify potential edge-case defects.

Verification ensures the product is built correctly by checking documents and code through reviews and walkthroughs. Validation ensures the right product is built by testing the actual application against user requirements. Both are essential for quality assurance.

Regression testing is conducted to verify that new code changes have not adversely affected the existing functionality. It is typically done after every major or minor update, bug fix, or enhancement to ensure that the application remains stable.

I prioritize test cases based on business impact, frequently used functionalities, and areas most prone to defects. High-risk and high-usage areas are tested first, followed by medium and low-priority cases, ensuring optimal coverage under time constraints.

Manual testing encompasses various types such as functional, integration, usability, smoke, sanity, regression, exploratory, and user acceptance testing. These types ensure the application meets all technical and business requirements.