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I'm relatively new to the process of editing and would appreciate comments, resources, and instructions on how to improve this article. Things I know need work:

• Citations. Proper formatting and making them show up in a "Notes" section at the bottom (is there something I need to do with the <ref> tags?)
• Fleshing it out more - article structure, etc.
• Adhering to Wikipedia writing/style guidelines (though I am not sure what these are yet).

I'm also unfamiliar with the process of creating a new article with an ambiguous name (there are many instances of Oracle (disambiguation) pages already. I've tried to be bold so far. What have I missed?

Thanks!

mchua (talk) 18:57, 11 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yahoo! has plans to close Geocities on October 26, 2009. When that happens http://www.geocities.com/model_based_testing/shoestring.htm , one of this article's references may be lost. The author seems to have created a new domain, http://www.model-based-testing.org/, but it's not clear if this article will be brought over in time. There's also a copy on StickyMinds if we need one. --Walter Görlitz (talk) 06:30, 10 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The article states that the oracle should compute the desired result. This is inaccurate. Itus sufficient to check whether the computed answer is correct. This may be much more efficient. For instance for a square root function you would test if the square of the result is very close to the argument. This is cheaper (and possibly smarter? Than recomputing the root in a different way, 129.27.33.200 (talk) 14:25, 17 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see the term "compute" at all so I'm not sure what you're talking about. There is a list of seven different types and that does mention that other programs may be used. Walter Görlitz (talk) 15:11, 17 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Walter Görlitz, thanks for fixing the section headings. Were you wondering if the article should be moved somewhere else? Any thoughts on where? Yorkyabroad (talk) 11:22, 30 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I was thinking "test oracle" as that's the wording used in the literature and the article. Walter Görlitz (talk) 18:41, 30 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, now I understand. Yes, that makes sense. Yorkyabroad (talk) 20:23, 30 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It would seem to make sense to move this article to Test Oracle (from Oracle (software testing)). This would align with the original introduction of the term by Howden and the use in research and literature. Any thoughts, or comments? Yorkyabroad (talk) 02:33, 31 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I'd actually like to keep it where it is. "Oracles" and the "oracle problem" are coming up by that name (without "test") increasingly in smart contracts. The usage of the term is widening from its origin - David Gerard (talk) 12:36, 31 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to me that "oracle" within the context of smart contracts refers to "oracle services" or "oracle servers". An oracle within the context of software testing is specifically an aid for software testing, in the scope of a software development lifecycle. Within software testing, "oracle" and "test oracle" are interchangeable, which would mean that one link would re-direct to the other (so, thanks for the update in the article).

Maybe, for the purposes of smart contracts, an article should be started, for example, "Oracle (Smart Contracts)" or something similar, to avoid confusion of context - as when I read about the implementation of oracles related to smart contracts I don't think they would naturally fit within an article related to software testing.

With regards to "the oracle problem", I wonder if it would make sense to extract that out into a separate article, for example, "Oracle Problem (Computers)" or something similar, as I recognise that the topic has relevance to software testing and smart contracts (and maybe other areas).Yorkyabroad (talk) 15:32, 31 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It's basically the same problem as this one, and references often talk about it as a term from software testing. Not sure it's distinct enough to bud off as yet - David Gerard (talk) 19:32, 31 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I decided to move it since that's what the literature calls it. Articles should be at the WP:COMMONNAME, not one that makes sense in relation to other terms. And since the literature usually calls a test oracle, especially with Kaner and others in the context school, I thought it appropriate. Moving it back wouldn't be too difficult, but I don't actually like at the old title. Walter Görlitz (talk) 23:14, 1 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]