Most programmers have had the experience that it is sometimes more efficient to leave the computer, sit down at a desk, take a sheet of paper, and think about the actual problem. As mentioned before, this is the idea of one of the oldest tests -- the desk tests . The tester who should not be the author takes a listing of the module he is going to analyze and tries to read it -- again with the goal to find bugs.
A lot of people have problems to do this in an efficient way. Due to the missing discipline in this process, a certain amount of self control is absolutely mandatory. This can be improved by the use of certain techniques which increase the systematics of those tests. Three representatives have been chosen to give a better impression how this can be done.