Software testing is generally
divided into several levels, each addressing a specific layer of the software.
These levels of testing aim to review specific aspects of the system and
gradually integrate and test them as a whole:
- Unit Testing: This is the first level of
testing and involves testing individual components or modules of a
software independently. It's usually performed by developers themselves
and aims to catch bugs early in the development process.
- Integration Testing: This level of testing
checks how different units or modules work together. The aim is to catch
any bugs in the interaction between different units. This type of testing
is often done using different strategies like top-down, bottom-up, or
sandwich approach.
- System Testing: At this level, the entire
software system is tested as a whole to verify that it meets the specified
requirements and works as expected. This is a black-box type of testing
where the internal structure of the system is generally not considered.
- Acceptance Testing: This is the final level
of testing, often carried out by the end-users or clients, and aims to
validate the software against the business requirements. It helps to
determine whether the system is ready for production. There are two types
of acceptance testing - Alpha (conducted by the in-house team) and Beta
(conducted by a select group of external users).
- Regression Testing: This is not a separate
level, but it's a type of testing performed after modifications (like bug
fixes or new features) in the software to ensure that the existing
functionalities still work as expected.
- End-to-End Testing: This kind of testing
involves testing the complete flow of the application from start to end.
The purpose of end-to-end testing is to identify system dependencies and
to ensure that the right information is passed between various system
components and systems.
Each level of testing has a
specific purpose and is important to ensure the quality of the software. The
testing process typically starts from unit testing and move towards acceptance
testing.
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22518 Software Testing