The value of a detailed test case increases if you don’t perform it and decreases when you do perform it.

  • The increased value comes from mentally walking through the test, which forces you to consider as many details as you can without interacting with the product-under-test.  This is more valuable than doing nothing.
  • The decreased value comes from interacting with the product-under-test, which helps you learn more than the test case itself taught you.

What’s the takeaway?  If an important test is too complicated to perform, we should at least consider writing a detailed test case for it.  If you think you can perform the test, you should consider not writing a detailed test case and instead focusing on the performance and taking notes to capture your learning as it occurs.

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