Ad-hoc Testing

Manual Testing

// Definition

Unstructured testing without a plan or documented test cases — relies on the tester's experience and intuition. Useful for quick smoke checks and early defect discovery, but not reproducible.

// Related terms

Exploratory Testing
Simultaneous learning, test design, and execution — the tester explores the app, forms hypotheses, and probes them, with no pre-scripted steps. Most effective when time-boxed and chartered.
Error Guessing
Designing tests based on the tester's intuition about where defects are likely to occur. Powered by experience and knowledge of common failure modes — null inputs, off-by-one errors, race conditions.
Test Case
A single, executable specification: preconditions, steps, expected result, and pass/fail criteria for one verification.