Improving Software Quality Through Offshore Software Testing
Offshore software testing services are the best choice when you have a large project with tight deadlines.
There are various types of functional testing methods, such as unit testing, regression testing, system testing, acceptance testing, and integration testing. Out of these various testing types, unit testing and integration testing are two essential ones that must be carried out during the software development lifecycle. Here, we are going to clarify the distinction between these two testing types so that you can have a better understanding of their core differences.
To better understand the difference between unit tests and integration tests, we should have a look at their definitions first.
In simple terms, unit testing is one type of software testing method in which an individual unit or a single component of source code is tested in total isolation. The purpose of this process is to validate the individual units so that they work as expected by mocking the interactions with the external dependencies. A unit tested in this testing type can be a function, class, or method. Usually, the developer carries out this task by writing test cases and then running them to check if they return the expected output. Unit testing is often considered the first level of software testing.
A unit test is important because it helps to identify defects at an early stage of the software development process. Doing so can save a lot of time and effort that would be required to fix these defects later on. Moreover, unit testing also makes the code more reliable and easier to understand. As a result, it reduces the overall cost of development.
Unit testing can be conducted manually or using automated testing tools. Automated tests are more efficient and less time-consuming. Some of the popular unit testing tools are TestNG, JUnit, NUnit, Mockito, PHPUnit, and Selenium. All these tools allow developers to write test codes in the programming language that they are most comfortable with, such as Java.
Integration testing, on the other hand, is the software testing method in which software units or modules are tested in a group. The purpose of this process is to validate the communication and interaction between these units and guarantee they work in harmony with each other. Integration testing is often considered the second level of software testing after unit testing.
There are different types of integration testing, each one designed to test a different type of interaction between software units. The most common types of integration testing are:
An integration test is conducted to check the functional, performance, and load behavior of the overall system. It also verifies if the components function properly when they are integrated with each other. In addition, integration testing helps to identify any gaps in the communication between various components. It also uncovers defects that might not have been detected during unit testing.
Unit testing and integration testing have some similarities, which make people confuse one another. Basically, both of them are functional tests to catch errors and bugs early on in the development process. These software testing methods share the common goal of ensuring codebase quality before release, reducing the time for debugging later on and increasing maintainability. They are correlated and play a crucial part in the comprehensive testing strategy of your software development team.
Although unit testing and integration testing share something in common, it does not mean they are interchangeable. In fact, there are several major differences that set them apart. Perhaps, the detailed comparison below will give you a clearer picture of how these two software testing techniques differ:
In short, unit testing and integration testing are equally important, and they enable error detection and bug fixes early in the development lifecycle. However, they should not be performed one after another. Even though both are functional testing methods with some similarities, there are multiple distinctions between these types of testing, as we outlined in the comparison above. A good understanding of the differences between these two software testing methods is the key to deciding how to use each of them precisely and efficiently.
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