Home > Ask the Software Quality Experts > Software Testing and Quality Assurance Questions & Answers > An approach to integration testing
Ask The Software Quality Expert: Questions & Answers
EMAIL THIS

An approach to integration testing

Mike Kelly EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Mike Kelly

Pose a Question
Other Software Quality Categories
Meet all Software Quality Experts
Become an Expert for this site


Software quality news and advice
Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google


>
QUESTION POSED ON: 29 September 2008
I'm working as an IT engineer and I have a software integration testing question. I have very low-level requirements which match directly to a function or some statements of function -- that is, a group of requirements matches to one function. I want to do software integration testing for the above requirements. Can you please suggest to me how integration testing is possible? I want to know the testing approach.


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google



RELATED CONTENT
Software Testing and Quality Assurance
Why do performance testers write new scripts so often?
How to create performance testing workload models
Fixing Web application performance troubleshooting problems
Expert advises on implementation of Selenium IDE for effective software testing
When should regression testing occur in an automated test plan?
Achieving peak performance in integration testing
Getting answers about OpenSTA script problems
Defining core software regression tests
Breaking in functionality on UI application pages
Where to find good methodology guides for software testing

Software integration testing
Free Web proxy security tools software testers should get to know
Ajax testing: Using available tools is key
Building, using tests on Microsoft Visual Studio Team System
Configuration testing: QA pros discuss 10 things you may not know
What is system integration testing?
What type of designs are needed to write integration test cases?
Who is responsible for integration testing, developer or tester?
How to develop a checklist for unit, integration and system testing
Integration testing: Is it black box or white box testing?
How to use tools for system integration testing

Software unit testing
Software testing deliverables: Developing a software testing strategy
Evaluating the benefits of automated software testing
Adopting continuous integration brings agility, other benefits
Tools, standards address persistent quality assurance (QA) issues
Increasing productivity with unit testing
Don't write simplistic test cases
How to develop a checklist for unit, integration and system testing
Making unit testing a priority
The Art of Debugging with GDB, DDD, and Eclipse -- Ch. 1
Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship, Chapter 1 -- What Is Clean Code?

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
continuous integration  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com)
integration testing  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com)
V-Model  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com)

RELATED RESOURCES
2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary


One of the fundamental ideas for integration testing is the idea of disagreement between various parts of the system.

John Overbaugh answered a very similar question to this one, "How to do integration testing." His is a bit more general, but he addresses the key issue right up front -- "integration testing means completely different things to completely different companies." I might even extend that to say that I've found it to mean different things to people within the same company and sometimes on the same team. Without knowing the specifics of your situation and what you mean when you say integration testing, it's difficult to give you an answer at the level of detail you might be expecting.

When talking about your question with Dale Emery, Dale pointed out that for him, one of the fundamental ideas for integration testing is the idea of disagreement between various parts of the system. That is, if we believe part X does its specific function well (hopefully based on some level of unit testing) and part Y does its specific function well, then when we put them together and test we're looking for ways in which there is conflict or unintended consequences between the two. The less certain we are about the different parts we'll be testing, or the lower our confidence in how those two parts will interact, the more integration testing we might want to do.

Software testing help:
Functional testing: Unit testing, integration testing and beyond

User acceptance testing vs. system integration testing

Unit, integration testing first steps toward SOA quality

In your specific case, what that might mean is that you need to do some level of unit testing for the functions involved based on your low-level requirements. Once that's completed, look at the requirements that span functions and require some level of integration testing. Anticipate how you'd exercise the software to get the behavior you'd need to see to test those requirements. Once you've looked at all the requirements, think about what "disagreements" or conflicts there might be between the functions involved and test for those conflicts.




Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
Search and browse more than 25,000 question and answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
Browse our Expert Advice



Software Quality - Software Maintenance, Software Requirements, Software Standards
About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
SEARCH 
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2006 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts