All About Pair Testing.

Pair testing is one of the software testing techniques that can be conducted between two or more team members. It is also called buddy testing or partner testing. In Pair testing, two testers work as a team to test the same feature in the same place simultaneously by continuously exchanging their ideas about the feature functionality. Working together typically with different skill sets,  find the defect, validate the functionality, and improve overall quality.

Advantages of using Pair Testing:

1. Pair testing promotes collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing between two testers. By working together testers can share their expertise, insights, and testing technique. Also, different skill sets lead to improved problem-solving and defect identification with different prospective. 
2. A pair of experienced juniors can create a learning environment where knowledge and skills can be transferred from one person to another. 
3. It improves the test coverage and allows a more comprehensive examination of the system. 
4. Pair testing improves the quality of the product, and encourages thorough testing, early defect detection, and effective collaboration.  
5. Two testers working simultaneously can increase the effectiveness of defect detection.

Disadvantages of Using Pair Testing:

1. In pair testing dependency on tester availability. It requires testers to be available and dedicated to working together during pair testing sessions. Different work schedules, scheduling conflicts, and other commitments may make it difficult to perform pair-testing sessions consistently.
2. If there is a skill imbalance between two testers, it may show that one tester dominates the other activity where other tester passively observes.
3. Pair testing reduces the individual productivity. Some testers feel more comfortable working independently and pair testing will not suit their preferred working style. 

How to perform Pair Testing: 

Performing pair testing needs the collaboration of two testers working on the same feature or application. 

1. Make a team of two testers who will work together with their skills, experience, and complementary knowledge that can help with the testing process. 

2 Define the objective and scope of the testing session, what area of the system will be covered, and what goals need to be achieved while doing the pair-testing.  

3. Planning the testing approach while performing testing which includes testing technique, test methodology, testing tool, and framework which is used and also test plan documents for guidance during testing. 

4. Cover all the scenarios with both positive and negative test cases. As per the experience of both testers identify the critical area to focus on and define test data and expected results. 5. Prepare the testing environment including software, hardware, and test data, and make sure that the system under test is properly configured and accessible for both testers.

6. During the testing session each tester decide the roles and responsibility. One tester handles the keyboard and mouse while the other one makes notes of suggestions, asks questions, documents the test result, and gives feedback.   

7. While executing the test cases following the test steps recording the observation and noting the result 

8. Communication is the key during pair testing. Both testers should openly discuss their ideas, thoughts, and observations and encourage their feedback.  

9. While testing if defect log, make sure that it is documented in the defect tracking tool. Also provide detailed information about the defect, including steps to reproduce, expected result, and actual result.

10. Once the testing session is completed, review it and analyze it together. Also, discuss the identified defects and their severity and potential impact on the system.

Conclusion : 

Pair Testing reduces the time of testing and also sharing the knowledge with one another. It helps to analyze the test results together.