System integration testing, formally known as SIT, is basically a black box testing technique of evaluating the compliance of a system against some set requirements. The SIT is carried out on a system subset with minimum utilization of testing tools, certified for the specific interactions exchanged as well as for each data field within the individual layer being investigated.
Complete Unit Testing First
Typically, System Integration Testing should take place after completing System Unit Testing (SUT) and prior to complete system testing. It provides the bridge between functionality of the software and full system operation, and provides application quality assurance.
Your strategy of integration software testing cannot be executed successfully if first, code has not passed the process of unit testing (SUT). Developers write unit tests to make sure each small portion of code is properly functioning. These shouldn’t have any outside systems dependencies; rather, they ought to test internal consistency.
Using unit testing for checking code prior to passing it down the system funnel reduces the number of bugs testers. It boosts user experience as they begin testing individual system pieces as well as verifying how small collections are working together.
Integration software testing validates whether the functional sub processes operating within the system are working appropriately when integrated together. Without it, you could have buggy code even before the integration has taken shape.
Have Software Configuration Management
Before you start with the System Integration Testing, ensure that a dynamic Software Configuration Management system has been put in place. Otherwise you may encounter a hard time keeping track of the right version of each of the units. This is particularly true if the number of units that are to be integrated is substantial.
As part of ensuring a successful System Integration Testing, make sure that an appropriate detail design document is ready where the interactions between the different units have been clearly defined. You will not in fact be able to carry out the Integration Testing without first acquiring this information.
When Possible Automate Testing
Integration testing, whenever possible, should be automated without compromising the process integrity. Checking for defects manually is time-consuming, tedious, and in a number of instances ineffective.
Automated integration testing allows your development teams to continue working while the software testing is being performed. Besides that, automation runs tests quickly and repeatedly, increasing the chances of identifying small defects immediately, which gives developers time to implement suitable fixes.
Conclusion
An effective system integration testing strategy is crucial to your entire software development process. The goal of this level of system testing is to provide application quality assurance by exposing potential faults and defects in the interaction between units that are integrated. Either the testing can be performed by developers themselves or by independent testers. There are additional resources available at QA Consultants.
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