Software Engineering ยท Testing
A test whose pass/fail result varies between runs with no underlying code change, usually due to timing, ordering, or external dependencies.
Example: An end-to-end test that intermittently fails because it checks for an element before a page animation finishes.
In practice: Common causes include race conditions, reliance on real time or randomness, and shared state between tests โ the fix is almost never 'just retry it.'