Combinatorial Testing - What, how and why

This 2-day course provides a complete set of methods and tools (known as Combinatorial Testing) for handling the problem of combinatorial explosion in software testing. Combinatorial explosion occurs in testing when systems are configurable and the number of possible configurations is too large to handle. Combinatorial explosion also occurs in testing, when test cases consist of several values, where the number of possible combinations of values (i.e. potential test cases) is too large to test exhaustively. Both these situations occur frequently in many test projects.

The first activity of combinatorial testing is to create a model that represents the test problem (selection of configurations or test cases). The main advantage with combinatorial testing is that the tester, based on the model, can identify a feasible subset of combinations, taking both available test time and desired test quality into account. The model also allows the tester to objectively assess the current test quality and see gaps in the test suite.

The course describes, in detail, all the activities of combinatorial testing through theory and a number of hands-on exercises. Some of the exercises are solved using a freeware PICT tool from Microsoft, so the course also gives hands-on experience in automating some of the combinatorial testing activities. Further, the course explains how to incorporate combinatorial testing into your existing testing activities.

The target audience of this course includes testers in all test phases and test managers. The course assumes some initial knowledge in testing and test related issues.