Friday November 10, 2017
Unit Testing vs Integration Testing! Do you know what’s the difference between unit testing and integration testing?
Both of them are essential in the development phase as unit testing will evaluate the code you have written for particular feature means while integration testing will ensure that it’s working fine with the rest of the system.
But the difference doesn’t end there.
Let’s make an inch to inch comparison between both the process. Unit Test vs Integration Test!
Both these forms of testing have their own significance but it is important to understand the difference between the two:
Unit testing tests each part of the program individually so as to ensure that each of them perform correctly. Whereas, integration testing combines the modules and test them as a group for their optimum functionality.
Unit testing is independent and can be performed at any point of SDLC. On the other hand, integration testing is conducted after unit testing is completed and system testing begins.
Unit testing cannot be sub-divided whereas integration testing can be divided into top-down integration, bottom-up integration and so on.
Unit testing cannot identify integration errors, or other system-wide errors that exist. Whereas, integration testing can identify all sorts of errors as its purpose is to test and identify errors in modules.
Unit testing begins with the specification of the modules whereas integration testing begins with interface specification.
Unit testing does not examine whether a program code works properly with external dependencies whereas integration testing tests the code on the same parameters.
Conducted by the software developer oneself, testing a program using unit testing is cheaper as compared to integration testing which is executed by a team of testers.
Both these forms of testing have their own importance as the absence of one might impact the overall performance and development of the product.
While unit testing ensures that optimum quality during the development phase of the product, integration testing ensures that there are no errors pending after the development of different modules.
Moreover, identifying the errors during integration testing raises the need for conducting unit testing again so as to identify the specific error in the program.
Therefore, to ensure the premium product delivery, it is better and advisable to keep implementing both these forms of testing as and when required.