KE College Dept of Computer Application SE Module 5

MODULE 5

➢ Software Testing :What is testing?

➢ Test, Test case and Test Suit,
➢ Verification and Validation,
➢ Alpha, beta and acceptance testing, functional testing
➢ Techniques to design test cases, boundary value analysis, Equivalence class testing, decision
table based testing
➢ Cause effect graphing technique, Structural testing path testing, Graph matrices,Data flow
testing;
➢ Levels of testing Unit testing, integration testing, system testing, validation testing,
➢ A brief introduction about debugging and various testing tools.

Software Testing
What is testing?

“Testing is the process of executing a program with the intent of finding errors.”

Why should We Test ?

Although software testing is itself an expensive activity, yet launching of software without testing may
lead to cost potentially much higher than that of testing, specially in systems where human safety is
involved.In the software life cycle the earlier the errors are discovered and removed, the lower is the
cost of their removal.

Who should Do the Testing ?

o Testing requires the developers to find errors from their software.

o It is difficult for software developer to point out errors from own creations.
o Many organisations have made a distinction between development and testing phase by making
different people responsible for each phase.

What should We Test ?

We should test the program’s responses to every possible input. It means, we should test for all valid
and invalid inputs. Suppose a program requires two 8 bit integers as inputs. Total possible combinations
are 28x28. If only one second it required to execute one set of inputs, it may take 18 hours to test all
combinations. Practically, inputs are more than two and size is also more than 8 bits. We have also not
considered invalid inputs where so many combinations are possible. Hence, complete testing is just not
possible, although, we may wish to do so.

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Test, Test Case and Test Suite

Test and Test case terms are used interchangeably. In practice, both are same and are treated
as synonyms. Test case describes an input description and an expected output description.. A
Test Case contains test steps, test data, precondition, postcondition developed for specific test
scenario to verify any requirement. The test case includes specific variables or conditions, using
which a testing engineer can compare expected and actual results to determine whether a
software product is functioning as per the requirements of the customer.

The set of test cases is called a test suite. Hence any combination of test cases may generate a
test suite.Test suite is a container that has a set of tests which helps testers in executing and
reporting the test execution status. It can take any of the three states namely Active, Inprogress
and completed.Test suites are created based on the cycle or based on the scope. It can contain
any type of tests, viz - functional or Non-Functional.

Verification and Validation

Verification is the process of evaluating a system or component to determine whether the
products of a given development phase satisfy the conditions imposed at the start of that phase.

Verification is the process of confirming if the software is meeting the business requirements,
and is developed adhering to the proper specifications and methodologies.

● Verification ensures the product being developed is according to design specifications.

● Verification answers the question– "Are we developing this product by firmly following all
design specifications ?"
● Verifications concentrate on the design and system specifications.

Target of the test are -

● Errors - These are actual coding mistakes made by developers. In addition, there is a
difference in output of software and desired output, is considered as an error.
● Fault - When error exists fault occurs. A fault, also known as a bug, is a result of an
error which can cause system to fail.
● Failure - failure is said to be the inability of the system to perform the desired task.
Failure occurs when fault exists in the system.

Validation is the process of evaluating a system or component during or at the end of the
development process to determine whether it satisfies the specified requirements .It examines
whether or not the software satisfies the user requirements. It is carried out at the end of the
SDLC. If the software matches requirements for which it was made, it is validated.

● Validation ensures the product under development is as per the user requirements.
● Validation answers the question – "Are we developing the product which attempts all that
user needs from this software ?".
● Validation emphasizes on user requirements.

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Testing= Verification+Validation

Alpha, Beta and Acceptance Testing

The term Acceptance Testing is used when the software is developed for a specific customer. A series of
tests are conducted to enable the customer to validate all requirements. These tests are conducted by
the end user / customer and may range from adhoc tests to well planned systematic series of tests.
The terms alpha and beta testing are used when the software is developed as a product for anonymous
customers.

Alpha Tests are conducted at the developer’s site by some potential customers. These tests are
conducted in a controlled environment. Alpha testing may be started when the formal testing process is
near completion.

Beta Tests are conducted by the customers / end users at their sites. Unlike alpha testing, developers
are not present here. Beta testing is conducted in a real environment that cannot be controlled by the
developer.

ALPHA TESTING BETA TESTING

● Alpha testing involves

● Beta testing commonly uses black box
both the white box and
testing.
black box testing.

● Alpha testing is performed

by testers who are usually ● Beta testing is performed by clients who
internal employees of the are not part of the organization.
organization.

● Alpha testing is performed ● Beta testing is performed at end-user of

at developer’s site. the product.

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● Reliability and security

● Reliability, security and robustness are
testing are not checked in
checked during beta testing.
alpha testing.

● Alpha testing ensures the ● Beta testing also concentrates on the

quality of the product quality of the product but collects users
before forwarding to beta input on the product and ensures that
testing. the product is ready for real time users.

● Alpha testing requires a

● Beta testing doesn’t require a testing
testing environment or a
environment or lab.
lab.

● Alpha testing may require ● Beta testing requires only a few weeks
long execution cycle. of execution.

Functional Testing Process

In functional testing,system is tested against the functional requirements and specifications.
Functional testing ensures that the requirements or specifications are properly satisfied by the
application. This type of testing is particularly concerned with the result of processing. It focuses
on simulation of actual system usage but does not develop any system structure assumptions.

It is basically defined as a type of testing which verifies that each function of the software
application works in conformance with the requirement and specification. This testing is not
concerned about the source code of the application.

Functional testing involves the following steps:

● Identify function that is to be performed.

● Create input data based on the specifications of function.

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● Determine the output based on the specifications of function.

● Execute the test case.
● Compare the actual and expected output.

Advantages of Functional Testing:

● It ensures to deliver a bug-free product.

● It ensures to deliver a high-quality product.
● No assumptions about the structure of the system.
● This testing is focused on the specifications as per the customer usage.

Disadvantages of Functional Testing:

● There are high chances of performing redundant testing.

● Logical errors can be missed out in the product.
● If the requirement is not complete then performing this testing becomes difficult

Black box testing

Black box testing is a type of software testing in which the functionality of the software is not
known. The testing is done without the internal knowledge of the products.The tester only knows
the formal inputs and expected outputs, but does not know how the program actually arrives at
those outputs. As a result, all testing must be based on functional specifications. For this reason
black box testing is also considered to be functional testing

Black box testing can be done in following ways:

1.Syntax Driven Testing – This type of testing is applied to systems that can be syntactically
represented by some language. For example- compilers,language that can be represented by
context free grammar. In this, the test cases are generated so that each grammar rule is used at
least once.

2. Equivalence partitioning – It is often seen that many type of inputs work similarly so instead
of giving all of them separately we can group them together and test only one input of each
group. The idea is to partition the input domain of the system into a number of equivalence
classes such that each member of class works in a similar way, i.e., if a test case in one class
results in some error, other members of class would also result into same error.

3.Boundary values - The input is divided into higher and lower end values. If these values pass
the test, it is assumed that all values in between may pass too.

4.Cause-effect graphing - In both previous methods, only one input value at a time is tested.
Cause (input) – Effect (output) is a testing technique where combinations of input values are
tested in a systematic way.

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5. Pair-wise Testing - The behavior of software depends on multiple parameters. In pairwise

testing, the multiple parameters are tested pair-wise for their different values.

6. State-based testing - The system changes state on provision of input. These systems are
tested based on their states and input.

Types of Black Box Testing

There are many types of Black Box Testing but the following are the prominent ones –
● Functional testing – This black box testing type is related to the functional
requirements of a system; it is done by software testers.
● Non-functional testing – This type of black box testing is not related to testing of
specific functionality, but non-functional requirements such as performance, scalability,
usability.
● Regression testing –Regression testing is done after code fixes, upgrades or any other
system maintenance to check the new code has not affected the existing code.

Generic steps of black box testing

● The black box test is based on the specification of requirements, so it is examined in the
beginning.
● In the second step, the tester creates a positive test scenario and an adverse test
scenario by selecting valid and invalid input values to check that the software is
processing them correctly or incorrectly.
● In the third step, the tester develops various test cases such as decision table, all pairs
test, equivalent division, error estimation, cause-effect graph, etc.
● The fourth phase includes the execution of all test cases.
● In the fifth step, the tester compares the expected output against the actual output.
● In the sixth and final step, if there is any flaw in the software, then it is cured and tested
again.

Advantages of Black Box Testing

● Efficient when used on large systems.

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● SInce the tester and developer are independent of each other, testing is balanced and
unprejudiced.
● Tester can be non-technical.
● There is no need for the tester to have detailed functional knowledge of system.
● Tests will be done from an end user's point of view, because the end user should accept
the system. (This testing technique is sometimes also called Acceptance testing.)
● Testing helps to identify vagueness and contradictions in functional specifications.
● Test cases can be designed as soon as the functional specifications are complete.

Disadvantages of Black Box Testing

● Test cases are challenging to design without having clear functional specifications.
● It is difficult to identify tricky inputs if the test cases are not developed based on
specifications.
● It is difficult to identify all possible inputs in limited testing time. As a result, writing test
cases may be slow and difficult.
● There are chances of having unidentified paths during the testing process.
● There is a high probability of repeating tests already performed by the programmer.

White box testing

White box testing techniques analyze the internal structures the used data structures, internal
design, code structure and the working of the software rather than just the functionality as in
black box testing. It is also called glass box testing or clear box testing or structural testing ,
open box testing or transparent box testing.. It is based on inner workings of an
application and revolves around internal structure testing. In this type of testing programming
skills are required to design test cases. The primary goal of white box testing is to focus on the
flow of inputs and outputs through the software and strengthening the security of the software.

The term 'white box' is used because of the internal perspective of the system. The clear box or
white box or transparent box name denote the ability to see through the software's outer shell
into its inner workings.

The white box testing contains various tests, which are as follows:

● Path testing
● Loop testing
● Condition testing

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● Testing based on the memory perspective

● Test performance of the program

The process to perform White Box Testing:

We have divided the process into two basic parts so that you can understand the process
briefly. So let’s discuss the process of testing an application through the technique of White Box
Testing:

Step 1: Understanding the Source codes

Firstly, a tester/developer requires understanding and learning the source code of any
application.

As we know that White Box Testing includes internal workings of an application, so the tester
must be proficient in the programming languages. These languages are used in the testing of
various applications. Apart from it, the tester must be highly aware of secure coding methods,
and security is a primary objective of testing software. Hence, it is also essential that a tester
must be capable of finding security issues and preventing attacks from hackers and who may
insert malicious code in the application both knowingly or unknowingly.

Step 2: Creating a test case and execution

The second essential step to White Box Testing includes testing the source code application for
appropriate structure and flow. Testers need to create more and more sources for testing the
application and develop little tests for every process in an application. This process demands
specialized knowledge of the code. Other processes involve Manual Testing, error testing and
the usage of testing tools, so we will discuss these aspects in further information.

Advantage

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● This testing helps to optimize the codes by finding hidden bugs and errors from the
software.

● Test cases in White Box Testing can be efficiently automated.

● Testing is more accurate due to all code paths typically covered.
● If GUI is not available, then testers can start the testing in SDLC.

Disadvantage

● Usually, It can be complicated and expensive.

● Production errors occur if one developer executes the test case, and another
developer doesn’t execute the test case properly.

● It needs all professional resources, with complete knowledge of implementation

and programming.

● It is a little bit time-consuming, larger programming applications take more.

Techniques to Design test cases

Software Testing Techniques help you design better test cases. Since exhaustive testing is not
possible; Manual Testing Techniques help reduce the number of test cases to be executed
while increasing test coverage. They help identify test conditions that are otherwise difficult to
recognize.

The Techniques include:

1. Boundary Value Analysis (BVA)

2. Equivalence Partitioning (EP)
3. Decision Table Testing.
4. State Transition Diagrams.
5. Use Case Testing.

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❖ Boundary Value Analysis

A type of programming error frequently occurs at the boundaries of different equivalence
classes of inputs. The reason behind such errors might purely be due to psychological factors.
Programmers often fail to see the special processing required by the input values that lie at the
boundary of the different equivalence classes.Boundary value analysis is based on testing at
the boundaries between partitions. It includes maximum, minimum, inside or outside
boundaries, typical values and error values.

It is generally seen that a large number of errors occur at the boundaries of the defined input
values rather than the center. It is also known as BVA and gives a selection of test cases which
exercise bounding values.

This black box testing technique complements equivalence partitioning. This software testing
technique base on the principle that, if a system works well for these particular values then it will
work perfectly well for all values which comes between the two boundary values.

For example, programmers may improperly use < instead of <=, or conversely <= for <.
Boundary value analysis leads to selection of test cases at the boundaries of the different
equivalence classes.

Example: For a function that computes the square root of integer values in the range of 0 and
5000, the test cases must include the following values: {0, -1,5000,5001}.

❖ Equivalence Class Testing

In this method, input domain of a program is partitioned into a finite number of equivalence
classes such that one can reasonably assume, but not be absolutely sure, that the test of a
representative value of each class is equivalent to a test of any other value. Equivalent Class
Partitioning allows you to divide set of test condition into a partition which should be considered
the same. This software testing method divides the input domain of a program into classes of
data from which test cases should be designed.

The concept behind this technique is that test case of a representative value of each class is
equal to a test of any other value of the same class. It allows you to Identify valid as well as
invalid equivalence classes
In equivalence partitioning, equivalence classes are evaluated for given input conditions.
Whenever any input is given, then type of input condition is checked, then for this input
conditions, Equivalence class represents or describes set of valid or invalid states.

Two steps are required to implementing this method:

1. The equivalence classes are identified by taking each input condition and partitioning it into
valid and invalid classes. For example, if an input condition specifies a range of values from 1 to

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999, we identify one valid equivalence class [1<item<999]; and two invalid equivalence classes
[item<1] and [item>999].

2. Generate the test cases using the equivalence classes identified in the previous step. This is
performed by writing test cases covering all the valid equivalence classes. Then a test case is
written for each invalid equivalence class so that no test contains more than one invalid class.
This is to ensure that no two invalid classes mask each other.

❖ Decision Table Based Testing

A decision table is also known as to Cause-Effect table. This software testing technique is used
for functions which respond to a combination of inputs or events. For example, a submit button
should be enabled if the user has entered all required fields.
The first task is to identify functionalities where the output depends on a combination of inputs. If
there are large input set of combinations, then divide it into smaller subsets which are helpful for
managing a decision table.
For every function, you need to create a table and list down all types of combinations of inputs
and its respective outputs. This helps to identify a condition that is overlooked by the tester.

Following are steps to create a decision table:

● Enlist the inputs in rows

● Enter all the rules in the column
● Fill the table with the different combination of inputs
● In the last row, note down the output against the input combination.

Cause Effect Graphing Technique-

● Consider single input conditions
● Do not explore combinations of input circumstances

Steps

1. Causes & effects in the specifications are identified.

A cause is a distinct input condition or an equivalence class of input conditions.

An effect is an output condition or a system transformation.

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2. The semantic content of the specification is analysed and transformed into a boolean graph
linking the causes & effects.

3. Constraints are imposed

4. Graph – limited entry decision table

Each column in the table represent a test case.

5. The columns in the decision table are converted into test cases.

Structural Testing
Structural testing is a type of software testing which uses the internal design of the software
for testing or in other words the software testing which is performed by the team which knows
the development phase of the software, is known as structural testing.A complementary
approach to functional testing is called structural / white box testing. It permits us to examine the
internal structure of the program.

Types of Structural Testing:

There are 4 types of Structural Testing:

Control Flow Testing:

Control flow testing is a type of structural testing that uses the programs’s control flow as a
model. The entire code, design and structure of the software have to be known for this type of
testing. Often this type of testing is used by the developers to test their own code and
implementation. This method is used to test the logic of the code so that required result can be
obtained.

Data Flow Testing:

It uses the control flow graph to explore the unreasonable things that can happen to data.The
detection of data flow anomalies are based on the associations between values and variables.
Without being initialized usage of variables. Initialized variables are not used once.

Slice Based Testing:

It was originally proposed by Weiser and Gallagher for the software maintenance. It is useful for
software debugging, software maintenance, program understanding and quantification of
functional cohesion. It divides the program into different slices and tests that slice which can
majorly affect the entire software.

Mutation Testing:
Mutation Testing is a type of Software Testing that is performed to design new software tests
and also evaluate the quality of already existing software tests. Mutation testing is related to

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modification a program in small ways. It focuses to help the tester develop effective tests or
locate weaknesses in the test data used for the program.

Advantages of Structural Testing:

● It provides thorough testing of the software.
● It helps in finding out defects at an early stage.
● It helps in elimination of dead code.
● It is not time consuming as it is mostly automated.

Disadvantages of Structural Testing:

● It requires knowledge of the code to perform test.
● It requires training in the tool used for testing.
● Sometimes it is expensive.

Path Testing
Path Testing is a method that is used to design the test cases. In path testing method, the
control flow graph of a program is designed to find a set of linearly independent paths of
execution. In this method Cyclomatic Complexity is used to determine the number of linearly
independent paths and then test cases are generated for each path.Path testing is the name
given to a group of test techniques based on judiciously selecting a set of test paths through the
program. If the set of paths is properly chosen, then it means that we have achieved some
measure of test thoroughness.

This type of testing involves:

1. generating a set of paths that will cover every branch in the program.

2. finding a set of test cases that will execute every path in the set of program paths.

Path Testing Process:

● Control Flow Graph:

Draw the corresponding control flow graph of the program in which all the executable
paths are to be discovered.

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● Cyclomatic Complexity:
After the generation of the control flow graph, calculate the cyclomatic complexity of
the program using the following formula.
● Make Set:
Make a set of all the path according to the control floe graph and calculated cyclomatic
complexity. The cardinality of set is equal to the calculated cyclomatic complexity.
● Create Test Cases:
Create test case for each path of the set obtained in above step.

Path Testing Techniques:

Control Flow Graph:

The program is converted into control flow graph by representing the code into nodes
and edges.
● Decision to Decision path:
The control flow graph can be broken into various Decision to Decision paths and
then collapsed into individual nodes.
● Independent paths:
Independent path is a path through a Decision to Decision path graph which cannot
be reproduced from other paths by other methods.

Advantages of Path Testing:

● Path testing method reduces the redundant tests.

● Path testing focuses on the logic of the programs.
● Path testing is used in test case design.

Flow Graph

The control flow of a program can be analysed using a graphical representation known as flow
graph. The flow graph is a directed graph in which nodes are either entire statements or
fragments of a statement, and edges represents flow of control.

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Cyclomatic Complexity
McCabe’s cyclomatic metric V(G) = e – n + 2P. For example, a flow graph shown in in Fig. 21
with entry node ‘a’ and exit node ‘f’.

The value of cyclomatic complexity can be calculated as :

V(G) = 9 – 6 + 2 = 5
Here e = 9, n = 6 and P =1
There will be five independent paths for the flow graph illustrated in Fig. 21.
Path 1 : a c f
Path 2 : a b e f
Path 3 : a d c f
Path 4 : a b e a c f or a b e a b e f
Path 5 : a b e b e f

Several properties of cyclomatic complexity are stated below:

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1. V(G) ≥1
2. V (G) is the maximum number of independent paths in graph G.
3. Inserting & deleting functional statements to G does not affect V(G).
4. G has only one path if and only if V(G)=1.
5. Inserting a new row in G increases V(G) by unity.
6. V(G) depends only on the decision structure of G.

Graph Matrix
A graph matrix is a data structure that can assist in developing a tool for automation of path
testing. Properties of graph matrices are fundamental for developing a test tool and hence graph
matrices are very useful in understanding software testing concepts and theory. It is a square
matrix whose size represents the number of nodes in the control flow graph.Each row and
column in the matrix identifies a node and the entries in the matrix represent the edges or links
between these nodes. Conventionally, nodes are denoted by digits and edges are denoted by
letters.

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Let’s convert this control flow graph into a graph matrix. Since the graph has 4 nodes, so the
graph matrix would have a dimension of 4 X 4. Matrix entries will be filled as follows :

● (1, 1) will be filled with ‘a’ as an edge exists from node 1 to node 1
● (1, 2) will be filled with ‘b’ as an edge exists from node 1 to node 2. It is important to note
that (2, 1) will not be filled as the edge is unidirectional and not bidirectional
● (1, 3) will be filled with ‘c’ as edge c exists from node 1 to node 3
● (2, 4) will be filled with ‘d’ as edge exists from node 2 to node 4
● (3, 4) will be filled with ‘e’ as an edge exists from node 3 to node 4
The graph matrix formed is shown below :

Data Flow Testing

As we know, variables are defined and referenced throughout the program. We may have few
define/ reference anomalies:

Data flow testing is another from of structural testing. It has nothing to do with data flow
diagrams.

i. Statements where variables receive values.

ii. Statements where these values are used or referenced.

i. A variable is defined but not used/ referenced.

ii. A variable is used but never defined.

iii. A variable is defined twice before it is used.

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Levels of Testing
There are 3 levels of testing:

i. Unit Testing

ii.Integration Testing

iii. System Testing

❖ Unit Testing
Unit testing is undertaken after a module has been coded and successfully reviewed. Unit
testing (or module testing) is the testing of different units (or modules) of a system in isolation. In
order to test a single module, a complete environment is needed to provide all that is necessary
for execution of the module. That is, besides the module under test itself, the following steps are
needed in order to be able to test the module:

• The procedures belonging to other modules that the module under test calls.

• Nonlocal data structures that the module accesses.

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• A procedure to call the functions of the module under test with appropriate parameters

.There are number of reasons in support of unit testing than testing the entire product.

1. The size of a single module is small enough that we can locate an error fairly easily.

2. The module is small enough that we can attempt to test it in some demonstrably exhaustive
fashion.

3. Confusing interactions of multiple errors in widely different parts of the software are
eliminated.

Objective of Unit Testing:

The objective of Unit Testing is:

1. To isolate a section of code.

2. To verify the correctness of code.
3. To test every function and procedure.
4. To fix bug early in development cycle and to save costs.
5. To help the developers to understand the code base and enable them to make
changes quickly.

6. To help for code reuse.

Advantages

● Reduces Defects in the Newly developed features or reduces bugs when

changing the existing functionality.
● Reduces Cost of Testing as defects are captured in very early phase.
● Improves design and allows better refactoring of code.
● Unit Tests, when integrated with build gives the quality of the build as well.

❖ Integration Testing

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The purpose of unit testing is to determine that each independent module is correctly
implemented. This gives little chance to determine that the interface between modules is also
correct, and for this reason integration testing must be performed.

Integration testing is the process of testing the interface between two software units or module.
It’s focus on determining the correctness of the interface.

The purpose of the integration testing is to expose faults in the interaction between integrated
units. Once all the modules have been unit tested, integration testing is performed.One specific
target of integration testing is the interface: whether parameters match on both sides as to type,
permissible ranges, meaning and utilization.

Big-Bang Integration Testing –

It is the simplest integration testing approach, where all the modules are combining and
verifying the functionality after the completion of individual module testing. In simple words, all
the modules of the system are simply put together and tested. This approach is practicable only
for very small systems. If once an error is found during the integration testing, it is very difficult
to localize the error as the error may potentially belong to any of the modules being integrated.
So, debugging errors reported during big bang integration testing are very expensive to fix.

Advantage

● It is convenient for small systems.

Disadvantages:

● There will be quite a lot of delay because you would have to wait for all the modules to
be integrated.
● High risk critical modules are not isolated and tested on priority since all modules are
tested at once.

2. Bottom-Up Integration Testing –

In bottom-up testing, each module at lower levels is tested with higher modules
until all modules are tested. The primary purpose of this integration testing is,
each subsystem is to test the interfaces among various modules making up the subsystem. This

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integration testing uses test drivers to drive and pass appropriate data to the lower level
modules.

Advantages:

● In bottom-up testing, no stubs are required.

● A principle advantage of this integration testing is that several disjoint subsystems
can be tested simultaneously.

Disadvantages:

● Driver modules must be produced.

● In this testing, the complexity that occurs when the system is made up of a large
number of small subsystem.

3. Top-Down Integration Testing –

Top-down integration testing technique used in order to simulate the behaviour of the lower-
level modules that are not yet integrated.In this integration testing, testing takes place from top
to bottom. First high-level modules are tested and then low-level modules and finally integrating
the low-level modules to a high level to ensure the system is working as intended.

Advantages:

● Separately debugged module.

● Few or no drivers needed.
● It is more stable and accurate at the aggregate level.

Disadvantages:

● Needs many Stubs.

● Modules at lower level are tested inadequately.

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4. Mixed Integration Testing –

A mixed integration testing is also called sandwiched integration testing. A mixed integration
testing follows a combination of top down and bottom-up testing approaches. In top-down
approach, testing can start only after the top-level module have been coded and unit tested. In
bottom-up approach, testing can start only after the bottom level modules are ready. This
sandwich or mixed approach overcomes this shortcoming of the top-down and bottom-up
approaches. A mixed integration testing is also called sandwiched integration testing.

Advantages:

● Mixed approach is useful for very large projects having several sub projects.
● This Sandwich approach overcomes this shortcoming of the top-down and bottom-up
approaches.

Disadvantages:

● For mixed integration testing, require very high cost because one part has Top-down
approach while another part has bottom-up approach.
● This integration testing cannot be used for smaller system with huge
interdependence between different modules

❖ System Testing

System Testing is a type of software testing that is performed on a complete integrated system
to evaluate the compliance of the system with the corresponding requirements.In system
testing, integration testing passed components are taken as input. The goal of integration
testing is to detect any irregularity between the units that are integrated together. System testing
detects defects within both the integrated units and the whole system. The result of system
testing is the observed behavior of a component or a system when it is tested.

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 KE College Dept of Computer Application SE Module 5

System Testing is carried out on the whole system in the context of either system requirement
specifications or functional requirement specifications or in the context of both. System testing
tests the design and behavior of the system and also the expectations of the customer. System
Testing is performed after the integration testing and before the acceptance testing.

System Testing Process:

System Testing is performed in the following steps:

● Test Environment Setup:

Create testing environment for the better quality testing.
● Create Test Case:
Generate test case for the testing process.
● Create Test Data:
Generate the data that is to be tested.
● Execute Test Case:
After the generation of the test case and the test data, test cases are executed.
● Defect Reporting:
Defects in the system are detected.
● Regression Testing:
It is carried out to test the side effects of the testing process.
● Log Defects:
Defects are fixed in this step.
● Retest:
If the test is not successful then again test is performed.

Types of System Testing:

● Performance Testing:
Performance Testing is a type of software testing that is carried out to test the speed,
scalability, stability and reliability of the software product or application.

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 KE College Dept of Computer Application SE Module 5

● Load Testing:
Load Testing is a type of software Testing which is carried out to determine the

behavior of a system or software product under extreme load.

● Stress Testing:
Stress Testing is a type of software testing performed to check the robustness of the
system under the varying loads.
● Scalability Testing:
Scalability Testing is a type of software testing which is carried out to check the
performance of a software application or system in terms of its capability to scale up
or scale down the number of user request load.

Validation Testing
The process of evaluating software during the development process or at the end of the
development process to determine whether it satisfies specified business requirements.
Validation Testing ensures that the product actually meets the client's needs. It can also be
defined as to demonstrate that the product fulfills its intended use when deployed on
appropriate environment.
It answers to the question, Are we building the right product?

● It refers to test the software as a complete product.

● This should be done after unit & integration testing.
● Alpha, beta & acceptance testing are nothing but the various ways of involving customer
during testing.
● IEEE has developed a standard (IEEE standard 1059-1993) entitled “ IEEE guide for
software verification and validation “ to provide specific guidance about planning and
documenting the tasks required by the standard so that the customer may write an
effective plan.
● Validation testing improves the quality of software product in terms of functional
capabilities and quality attributes.

Debugging and various testing tools

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 KE College Dept of Computer Application SE Module 5

The Art of Debugging

The goal of testing is to identify errors (bugs) in the program. The process of testing generates
symptoms, and a program’s failure is a clear symptom of the presence of an error. After getting
a symptom, we begin to investigate the cause and place of that error. After identification of
place, we examine that portion to identify the cause of the problem. This process is called
debugging.

Testing Tools
One way to improve the quality & quantity of testing is to make the process as pleasant as
possible for the tester. This means that tools should be as concise, powerful & natural as
possible.

The two broad categories of software testing tools are :

➔ Static
➔ Dynamic

There are different types of tools available and some are listed below:

1. Static analyzers, which examine programs systematically and automatically.

2. Code inspectors, who inspect programs automatically to make sure they adhere to minimum
quality standards.

3. standards enforcers, which impose simple rules on the developer.

4. Coverage analysers, which measure the extent of coverage.

5. Output comparators, used to determine whether the output in a program is appropriate or not.

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