Integration testing
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Integration testing is the phase of software testing in which individual software modules are combined and tested as a group. It follows unit testing and precedes system testing.
Integration testing takes as its input modules that have been checked out by unit testing, groups them in larger aggregates, applies tests defined in an Integration test plan to those aggregates, and delivers as its output the integrated system ready for system testing.
Purpose
The purpose of Integration testing is to verify functional, performance and reliability requirements placed on major design items. These "design items", i.e. assemblages (or groups of units), are exercised through their interfaces using Black box testing, success and error cases being simulated via appropriate parameter and data inputs. Simulated usage of shared data areas and inter-process communication is tested, individual subsystems are exercised through their input interface. All test cases are constructed to test that all components within assemblages interact correctly, for example, across procedure calls or process activations.
The overall idea, is the "building block" approach in which verified assemblages are added to a verified base which is then used to support the Integration testing of further assemblages.
External links
- Article Managing your Way through the Integration and Test Black Hole (http://www.methodsandtools.com/archive/archive.php?id=13) from Methods & Tools (http://www.methodsandtools.com/)