🤔 What Are Testing Heuristics?

Testing heuristics are mental shortcuts or practical strategies that help testers uncover bugs, design better test scenarios, and make decisions quickly when full analysis isn't possible. They don't guarantee success but guide exploration and judgment.


⚖️ Why Use Heuristics?

  • Time-Saving: Helps navigate large systems faster.
  • Exploratory Thinking: Encourages creative, unscripted testing.
  • Better Risk Detection: Pushes you to test beyond obvious cases.

🔍 Common QA Heuristics (with Examples)

1. CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete)

Check how a system handles basic data operations.

2. RCRCRC

Recent, Core, Risky, Complex, Reused, Configurable — used for prioritizing what to test first.

3. Zero-One-Many

Test 0 items, 1 item, and many items (lists, uploads, fields).

4. Input Constraint Testing

Feed invalid, max-length, empty, or weird characters.

5. State Transition Testing

Evaluate behavior across different application states.


🌟 How to Use Them

  • Keep heuristic checklists.
  • Apply them during exploratory sessions, code reviews, or paired testing.
  • Don’t treat them as strict rules — they’re guides, not guarantees.

📝 Final Thought

Heuristics make you think like a bug, not just look for them. Every smart tester has a mental toolbox. What's in yours?