# Phases of System Testing

System testing examines every component of an application to make sure that they work as a complete and unified whole. 

{% hint style="info" %}
A QA team typically conducts system testing after it checks individual modules with functional or user story testing and then each component through integration testing.
{% endhint %}

## Phases of System Testing

System testing examines the entire application as a whole to identify issues before release. A QA team typically performs system testing after:

• Functional, acceptance and unit testing of individual components

### The main stages of system testing are:

1. **Setup test environment** - A test server is configured to simulate production. This allows testers to run automated test cases in an isolated environment.

<details>

<summary><mark style="background-color:green;">Testers setup:</mark> </summary>

• Test data\
• Test databases\
• Test users

</details>

2. **Create test cases** - Test cases that cover all functional and non-functional requirements are created.

<details>

<summary><mark style="background-color:green;">Testers write test cases to ensure:</mark> </summary>

• All features and flows are tested&#x20;

• Edge cases are considered&#x20;

• Various conditions are tested

</details>

3. **Generate test data** - Representative test data is created to simulate real user inputs and scenarios.

<details>

<summary><mark style="background-color:green;">Testers generate:</mark></summary>

• Valid and invalid data

• Edge case data values

• Large and small data sets

</details>

4. **Execute test cases** - The automated test cases are run to exercise all features and flows within the system. Issues are identified and logged.

<details>

<summary><mark style="background-color:green;">Testers run:</mark> </summary>

• Integration tests

• Performance tests

• Security tests

• Regression tests

</details>

5. **Regression testing** - Previously executed test cases are rerun to ensure no new issues were introduced. Any failures are investigated.
6. **Defect fixing** - The development team fixes all logged defects and issues.
7. **Retesting** - Once fixes are implemented, impacted test cases are rerun to verify the fix resolved the issue.

{% hint style="success" %}
If system testing passes, the software proceeds to final acceptance testing. Throughout, testers monitor defect levels based on the application's quality standards.
{% endhint %}


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