🌫️Smoke Testing
What is Smoke Testing?
Smoke testing, often known as the build verification test, looks for problems in specific sections of the program rather than the entire application. It is used to test the acute functionality of the software. When the developers deliver a new build to the Quality Assurance teams, smoke testing is done. However, it is not limited to being carried out simply at the outset of a new project. Smoke testing will continue to operate even if new modules are added to current functionality. It is done by both testers and developers because it is simple and requires little time. It’s part of the thorough testing process, and it employs test cases to ensure that all critical components of the build are in working order.
It is a software testing technique used after a software build to ensure that the software’s essential features are operating properly. It is run before any functional or regression tests are run in detail. The basic goal of smoke testing is to reject a software program that has flaws so that the QA team doesn’t waste time evaluating defective software. Smoke testing is a subset of acceptance testing.
Smoke testing can save test effort while improving the application’s quality. Based on the client and the organization, smoke testing can be done manually or automatically.
“Build Verification Testing” or “Confidence Testing” are other terms for smoke testing.
A typical smoke test may include things like verifying that the application launches successfully, checking that the GUI is responsive, and so on.
We can say that it's the first step of testing and, after this, we normally do other kind of functional and system testing, including regression testing.
Types of Smoke Testing
To conduct a smoke test, you can use manual, hybrid, or automated methods. Regardless of the specific type of smoke test you’re conducting, there are two types of Smoke testing: formal and informal
Formal smoke testing
In this, the development team sends the application to the test lead. Then the test lead will instruct the testing team to do smoke testing and send the reports after performing the smoke testing. Once the testing team completes the smoke testing, they will send the smoke testing report to the test lead
Informal smoke testing
The Test lead says that the application is ready for further testing. The test leads do not specify to do smoke testing, but still, the testing team starts testing the application by doing smoke testing.
When Should Smoke Testing Be Done?
When new software functions are built and integrated with an existing build in the QA/staging environment, smoke testing is performed. It verifies whether or not all key functions are operational. It also checks whether the build is stable or not.
The development team deploys the build in the QA in this testing technique. Subsets of test cases are identified, and then test cases are executed on the build by testers. The application’s essential features are tested by the QA team. The purpose of this set of test cases is to expose errors that are in the build. If all of these tests pass, the QA team moves on to Functional Testing.
Any failure implies that the system should be returned to the development team. We do Smoke Testing whenever there is a change in the build to guarantee stability.
Let’s take a look at a basic scenario in which you’re given an email application to evaluate. Logging into the email program, writing an email, and sending it are the most crucial features, right? Is it worthwhile to test additional features such as draft, deleted messages, archives, and so on if the email is not sent? This means you’ll have to drop the build without additional testing. This is referred to as smoke testing.
Benefits of Smoke Testing
Increase the efficiency of the quality assurance staff.QA teams will be more productive and satisfied with their jobs if they have more trust in higher-viability builds that successfully pass the smoke test suite.
The goal is to ensure the application’s “stability” before proceeding with additional testing.
Helps in the detection of errors in the early stages.
Minimizes integration risks.
Less time spent debugging new and regression bugs. A regression bug is a bug that causes a previously functional feature to cease operating after a certain event (system upgrade, system patching, etc.) If any are discovered during smoke testing, the development team may begin troubleshooting and doing root cause analysis much sooner rather than waiting until the whole test suite has been completed.
Smoke testing is performed prior to the execution of automated test cases on a software build. Smoke testing is as good as confirming the successful installation of the build for the execution of the first test case if an organization has continuous testing built-in. If you haven’t already, try automating smoke tests since it will help you run the tests faster and get faster feedback so you can work on them right away.
What is Sanity Testing?
Sanity testing determines whether new module additions to an existing software build are stable enough to proceed to the next stage of testing. This is also known as Surface Level Testing, and it is required to quickly assess the quality of software regressions. Sanity tests reveal if end-to-end testing of the build can be carried out effortlessly in the case of small code changes. If the sanity test fails, the build is refused in order to save time and money on more thorough testing.
Sanity tests also guarantee that any modifications made do not affect the software build’s other capabilities. Sanity testing is a type of regression testing used in quality assurance. The main purpose of sanity testing is to make sure that the proposed modifications or functionality works as intended. If the sanity test fails, the testing team will reject the software product to save time and money. It is only carried out once the software product has passed the smoke test and been approved for further testing by the Quality Assurance team.
The goal is to confirm the application’s “rationality” before proceeding with additional testing. Sanity testing is a subset of regression testing as well. Because sanity testing is a subset of regression testing, it may also be automated.
Consider an e-commerce project with five modules: the home page, the login page, the new user creation page, the user detail page, etc. The username in the login page should not be fewer than seven characters, according to the criteria, and the issue occurs when a username with less than seven characters is approved.
The problem is subsequently reported to the development team, which is responsible for correcting it. The development team now fixes the problem and sends it back to the testing team to be double-checked. The testing teams next make sure that the problem corrected by the development team isn’t interfering with the operation of other modules.
When Should You Conduct Sanity Testing?
Built is received after a number of regressions or if there is a minor change in the code.
After bug fixes, the build is sent.
Just before the production deployment.
Benefits of Sanity Testing
Sanity testing aids in the rapid detection of problems in fundamental functionality.
Because no documentation is necessary for sanity testing, it may be completed in less time.
If problems are discovered during sanity testing, the project is rejected, which saves time for regression testing.
The team’s focus is on validating the application’s functioning rather than thorough testing. Sanity testing is usually done on a build when a production deployment is required right away, such as for a critical bug patch.
Key Features of Sanity testing and Smoke Testing
Smoke and Sanity testing save time for the QA team by swiftly determining whether or not an application is functioning properly. It also guarantees that the product is suitable for further evaluation.
Sanity and Smoke testing are two methods to avoid wasting time and effort by evaluating whether an application is too defective to be tested thoroughly.
Conducting a daily build and smoke test in software projects is one of the top industry practices.
Smoke and sanity tests can be done manually or with the help of an automation tool.
You may need to run both Sanity and Smoke Tests in the software build depending on the testing requirements. In such instances, you would do Smoke tests first, followed by Sanity Testing. Sanity testing test cases are frequently combined with smoke test cases in the industry to speed up test performance. As a result, the terms are frequently misunderstood and used interchangeably.
Difference Between Smoke and Sanity Testing
| Particulars | Smoke testing | Sanity testing |
|---|---|---|
Purpose | Smoke testing is performed to ascertain that the acute functionalities of the program are operating properly. | Sanity testing is done to check that bugs have been fixed after the build. |
Documentation | Smoke testing can be documented and scripted. | Sanity testing can’t be documented and is unscripted. |
Basis of testing | The major goal of this testing is to ensure that the newly generated build is stable enough to withstand further rigorous testing. | The major goal of this testing is to determine the system’s rationality and correctness to ensure that the proposed functionality performs as intended. |
Executed by | It is done by both developers and testers. | It is done by testers. |
Subset | It is a subset of acceptance testing. | It is a subset of regression testing. |
Performed on | Smoke Testing is first performed on the initial build. | Sanity Testing is performed on stable build or for the new features in the software |
Coverage | Covers end-to-end basic functionalities of the system. | Covers specific modules, in which code changes have been made |
Differences between Smoke Testing and Regression Testing
| Smoke Testing | Regression Testing |
|---|---|
This is known as Surface Level Testing and ensures build and environment stability. | This is known as Deep Level Testing, and it ensures the overall product’s functionality. |
This can be done by either Developers or Testers | This is mostly done by Testers |
This incurs very less cost | Regression Testing is usually costly. |
This is completed quickly and takes lesser manpower | This takes time to complete and needs more manpower. |
This is scripted | This is not scripted |
This is done whenever a new build is out. | This is also done when a new build is out, as well as it’s done over the entire development lifecycle. |
This is performed on all builds and determines whether the build can be accepted or rejected | This is performed only on a stable build. |
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