Difference between Monkey Testing and Ad hoc Testing

Key Difference: Adhoc Testing is performed without any planning or preparation. After the program is functional, the programmer or tester will test the software using his knowledge of the program. Monkey Testing is similar to Ad hoc Testing. However, it can be done without any knowledge or information about the software.

Before a new software rolls out to the public, it is thoroughly tested to ensure that there are no bugs in the system and that it works seamlessly. Monkey Testing and Adhoc Testing are two different types of software tests that may be run on the software. They are conducted to test out the software and to ensure there are no bugs in the system.

Both Monkey Testing and Ad hoc Testing are types of random testing that is done after the software’s programming it done, but usually before intensive and intricate testing is started. It can even be said that Monkey Testing is a type of Adhoc Testing.

Adhoc Testing is performed without any planning or preparation. After the program is functional, the programmer or tester will test the software using his knowledge of the program. He will generally test the basics of the system to ensure that they run and the system does not crash. This type of testing is done without any Test Case being used.

Monkey Testing is similar to Ad hoc Testing. It is also conducted randomly, and without any planning or preparation. Many programmers categorize Monkey Testing as a type of Adhoc Testing due to this reason. However, Monkey Testing differs from Adhoc Testing in one significant manner, Monkey Testing can be done without any knowledge or information about the software.

Monkey Testing is an automated test that is conducted without any specific test in mind. The objective of the test it to literally try to crash the system and to ensure that it does not. For this purpose, the test can include random tests such as literally typing random strings into text boxes to see how the system would handle the error.

The advantage of Monkey Testing and Adhoc Testing is that it tests the software in real and random situation as compared to structured testing. These kinds of situations are also more real and likely to happen when the product rolls out to the public. However, the disadvantage of Monkey Testing and Ad hoc Testing is that when an error does happen, there is no way to replicate the error, as there are no test case files to refer back to. This is why Monkey Testing and Adhoc Testing are nearly always used in collaboration with traditional and structured testing techniques.

Comparison between Monkey Testing and Ad hoc Testing:

	Monkey Testing	Ad hoc Testing
Type	Random Testing – No Test Case used	Random Testing – No Test Case used
Purpose	Few tests here and there to ensure the system or an application does not crash.	The tester tries to 'break' the system by randomly trying the system's functionality.
Description	No specific test is done; it may include just random clicking or typing to see if the system crashes.	Based on the tester’s knowledge. The tester may check what he feels is necessary.
Conducted by	‘Monkey on a typewriter.’ Anybody without any knowledge of the software or even computers.	A programmer with detailed knowledge of the software and system.
Types	Monkey Button Push Testing Smart Monkey Testing Brilliant Monkey Testing Dumb Monkey Testing Adam Testing	Buddy Testing Pair Testing Monkey Testing