What is integration testing?
It is a testing method wherein two or more components, modules or units of a software application are combined and then tested. The coding of these modules is done by programmers.
The following are the steps required to perform integration testing:
- The test plan needs to be prepared
- Test scenarios, test cases, use cases and scripts need to be designed
- The tests need to be run after module/unit integration
- The errors need to be detected, reported and fixed
- The functionalities should be retested after the bugs have been fixed
- The process needs to be repeated until all the bugs have been detected and fixed.
Following are a few key reasons that depict the strategic need to conduct integration testing;
- Issues that have been unnoticed during unit testing should be eliminated: The interaction of certain modules that takes place with third-party application program interfaces (APIs) need to be tested so that they can function properly. This may not take place during unit testing, hence integration testing is required.
- Other common issues should also be eliminated: Integration testing can also eliminate certain issues such as error trapping, incorrect third-party service interfaces, erroneous external hardware interfaces, data formatting, API response generation and inadequate exception handling.
- Disparate modules need to be integrated into a working application: When different modules are being worked upon by different developers, individuals bring their own logic and understanding to the development effort. This can in turn cause usability or functional problems when the modules have been combined.
- Incorporating changing requirements into the application: Requirements can often change in many real-time application scenarios. Unit testing may have not been performed on these new requirements, which may in turn lead to missing product features or missing defects. These specific gaps can be filled in by integration testing to make sure that new requirements are involved in the final application.
