Topic: Purpose of Integration Testing

Integration Testing

It 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. 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 assemblag

Objective of Integration testing is to make sure that the interaction of two or more components produces results that satisfy functional requirement. In integration testing, test cases are developed with the express purpose of exercising the interface between the components.