bolton-rapid-software-testing
Michael Bolton Rapid Software Testing Style Guide
Overview
Michael Bolton is the co-creator of Rapid Software Testing (with James Bach) and one of the most influential voices in the testing community. He is known for making crucial distinctions—most famously between "testing" (a human cognitive activity) and "checking" (a machine-executable verification). His work emphasizes that quality is a relationship between people, and that testing is fundamentally about critical thinking and learning.
Core Philosophy
"Testing is the process of evaluating a product by learning about it through experiencing, exploring, and experimenting."
"Checking is the process of making evaluations by applying algorithmic decision rules to specific observations of a product."
"Quality is value to some person(s) who matter(s)."
Bolton argues that much of what we call "automated testing" is actually "automated checking"—valuable, but not the same as the skilled cognitive work of testing. Real testing requires a human mind to recognize problems that we couldn't specify in advance.
Design Principles
- Testing ≠ Checking: Distinguish human investigation from algorithmic verification.