So what is “Hypothesis-based testing” and how is it connected to STEM™ 2.0? Let us start from the fundamentals – “Can we guarantee that the released software is clean?” Most often the answer is an emphatic NO! The reason for this is that we do not wish to believe that the final software will have no defects. Hey, wait a minute…. Is this what guarantee means? Not really. As a consumer, we expect the products that we buy to be guaranteed. That is, we expect that it has been well validated, and should ensure a great experience when we use it. In the extreme case when it does fail, we expect fast turnaround via a responsive support system, resulting in a quick fix or replacement. Our customers expect the same too from us as producers of software. Hence guarantee means that we are extremely clear of the probability of the failure and the risk therefore. Once we are sure of this, we should be able to guarantee the cleanliness of software.

What does it take to do this?  If we can guarantee the process of evaluation of software, then we can guarantee that cleanliness of the delivered software. Now what does it take to do this? How can one guarantee the process of evaluation? Most often, we like to believe that experience of the test staff is what will make this possible. But this is simply not enough.  If we can scientifically analyze the process of evaluation, rationally justify why we did the various activities and the outcomes, and yet do not find any anomalies, then we can inclined to think that the process of evaluation is guaranteed to produce clean software. Hence guarantee can be achieved if we can explain the means to achieve the outcome. For example if we can scientifically explain our test strategy, scientifically prove the completeness of test cases etc, we can indeed guarantee cleanliness. The trouble is that the industry does not seem to have rational and scientific form of thinking/method.

STEM™ 2.0 is a method that allows for scientific thinking and disciplined implementation to ensure that the delivered software can indeed be guaranteed to be clean. The central core of STEM™ is establishing a clear goal and then performing activities that will indeed get us to the goal. In STEM™, the goal translates to “Uncover these potential defects”. These potential defects are hypothesized and all the later activities are about proving that the hypothesized defect(s) do/do-not exist.

Hypothesis-based testing is therefore an approach to testing that is about establishing a hypothesis and proving/disproving them. In Hypothesis-based testing, the key tenet is to establish a hypothesis that these potential defects may exist, and then proving/disproving their existence. Hypothesis-based testing is powered by STEM™ 2.0! I hope you see the connection now!

Think – when you go the doctor with ailments, he/she hypothesizes potential problems based on your symptoms, performs diagnostic tests to confirm the hypothesis and then prescribes the treatment regimen. When you go on a holiday, you hypothesize needs and accordingly pack items. Whenever you have a goal-focused, you always hypothesize the future situation(s) and then up with a list of activities. Hypothesis-based testing is the application of this thinking to uncovering defects in software. Hypothesis-based testing is not a normal term, it is invented in STAG! Hypothesis based testing is powered by STEM™ 2.0.

Summary:

1. Guarantee implies “the means to achieve the end can be explained scientifically”.
2. To establish guarantee, we must have an extreme clarity of the goal to be achieved.
3. STEM™ 2.0 is a method that is sharply goal-focused, with a scientific means to get to the goal.
4. Achieving the goal requires hypothesizing as to what can go wrong and ensuring the means to avert these.
5. “Hypothesis-based testing” is a test approach invented at STAG that hypothesizes potential defects and then performing activities to proving/disproving that they exist.
6. Hypothesis-based testing is powered by STEM™ 2.0.

Often people, who heard about STEM™, came back to us asking for more information or clarifications. Although, we provided it every single time, it was getting repetitive and those who understood it, asked for a mechanism to be up-to-date. So here it is.

STEM™ gets its own blog. To share, clarify and discuss anything and everything on STEM™.

The one and only goal of this blog is the share the benefits of STEM™ with the rest of the world.

Happy Blogging!