Following my entry entitled “Are you positive about being negative”, Joe Strazzere asked what do I call the tests that we execute when we run out of time.  This is a good question and one that I should have answered in the original entry as Joe has correctly pointed out that I now don’t have a name for them.  

One of the reasons for not putting a tag on this type of testing is that it can cloud the thinking when determining what tests to run.  “Happy path”, for example, would indicate a certain type of test.

If you need some type of “tag”, the best I can come up with is MAT, which stands for “Most Appropriate Tests”.  Let me explain what I mean.

Whenever you are short of time for some tests you have to determine what tests you will run to make the best use of the time available. The thought processes go along the lines of:

• What are the risk areas of the system
• What are the areas that have spawned the most bugs recently
• What are the most business critical areas
• What are the areas that would be most embarrassing if they failed
• What has changed recently and therefore could have de-stabilised the system

So, the upshot is that I can’t give these tests a generic term, the answer is “it depends”, you should run your MAT suite!