A heuristic for regression testing

I’ve been doing a fair amount of regression testing. I gained clarity into how I think through regression testing as I explained my thought process to a client. And I’ve devised a mnemonic: RCRCRC.

Recent: new features, new areas of code are more vulnerable
Core: essential functions must continue to work
Risk: some areas of an application pose more risk
Configuration sensitive: code that’s dependent on environment settings can be vulnerable
Repaired: bug fixes can introduce new issues
Chronic: some areas in an application may be perpetually sensitive to breaking

I’ve previously shied away from creating mnemonics. I guess because I often forget them. How embarrassing, isn’t a mnemonic supposed to help me remember? I haven’t been able to explain my struggle but this post from Jonathan Kohl sums up how I’ve felt and has helped me.

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