Testing is like … vacuuming

• It’s better to do it often, than to let it pile up
• It’s a tedious task that robots can do (partially)
• Automation can catch some base level hairy stuff
• Bigger hairy catches should be hand-picked
• It’s always involves using tools
• It’s better when it’s a whole team approach to cleaning
• If everybody does their area, it all adds up
• There’s always the usual spots …
• .. And the spots to see after you thought you were done
• In a hurry, you use the snow-plow method
• It catches bugs

This is an analogy blog post – consider it an experiment, not a wholesome truth, but rather a model. And a model is always false, but sometimes useful.

This blogpost is also coming from a community outreach from the  Bloggers Club on the Ministry of Testing. There are regular challenges that aim to share community thoughts. This month, the challenge is to share the personal perspective about “Testing is like…”

The analogy is inspired by Heathers post about their new vacuum robot below. If you want to consider how to test a robot vacuum, go see the club post: How to Test a Robot Vacuum?

Meet my new friend Floor-a the Explora.

It's going to take over the hoovering for me. Gotta charge first though! pic.twitter.com/Oz5v6mFZq8

— Heather Reid (@heather_reiduff) June 29, 2020

[Image of “Floor-a” with permission from Heather]