What is Smoke and Sanity Testing

Smoke and Sanity testing in detail

    Smoke Testing

Smoke testing is a type of software testing that focuses on quickly and superficially checking if the most critical and basic functionalities of a software application work as expected. The primary goal of smoke testing is to ensure that the application is stable enough for more in-depth testing. It is typically performed after a new build of the software is deployed but before detailed testing or regression testing is initiated.

Here’s a more detailed explanation of smoke testing with an example:

Purpose of Smoke Testing:

• To verify that the core functionalities of the software are working.
• To catch major defects or issues early in the development cycle.
• To determine if the build is stable enough for further testing.

Process of Smoke Testing:

1. Select Test Cases: Choose a set of test cases that cover the most critical and fundamental features of the application. These test cases should be relatively simple and quick to execute.
2. Execute Test Cases: Run the selected test cases against the newly deployed build of the application.
3. Analyze Results: Examine the test results. If all the selected test cases pass without significant issues, the build is considered “smoke-tested” and is deemed stable for more comprehensive testing. If any test case fails, it indicates a major issue, and further testing may be postponed until the issues are resolved.

Example of Smoke Testing:

Let’s say you are testing a web-based e-commerce application. Some of the essential functionalities of this application include:

• User registration
• Login and authentication
• Browsing products
• Adding products to the cart
• Proceeding to checkout
• Making a payment

For a smoke test, you might select a few test cases like:

1. Open the application homepage and verify that it loads without any critical errors.
2. Attempt to register a new user account and check if the registration process is completed without major issues.
3. Log in with a valid user account and verify that you can access your profile.
4. Browse a few product categories and check if the product listings load correctly.
5. Add a product to the shopping cart and ensure that it appears in the cart.
6. Initiate the checkout process and make sure you can enter payment details.

If all of these basic test cases pass without critical problems, you can conclude that the application’s core functionality is stable for more extensive testing. If any of these test cases fail, it indicates that there are significant issues in the build, and the development team needs to address them before proceeding with further testing.

Smoke testing is a valuable practice in software development because it helps catch major issues early, reducing the risk of investing time and resources in more detailed testing when the software is not yet stable.

                                                                                       Sanity Testing

Sanity testing, also known as a sanity check or build verification test, is a type of software testing that is focused on quickly verifying whether specific functionalities or changes introduced in a software build are working as expected after a minor change or a small set of code modifications. The primary goal of sanity testing is to ensure that the recent changes or modifications have not introduced any major issues and that the application remains functional. It is a subset of regression testing and is typically less comprehensive.

Here’s a more detailed explanation of sanity testing with an example:

Purpose of Sanity Testing:

• To check whether specific parts of the application are still working correctly after a minor change or set of changes.
• To ensure that the changes introduced in a build have not negatively impacted the core functionalities.
• To confirm that the software is ready for more extensive testing or further development.

Process of Sanity Testing:

1. Select Test Cases: Choose a set of test cases that focus on the areas of the application that were affected by recent changes. These test cases should be quick to execute and cover the critical aspects of the application.
2. Execute Test Cases: Run the selected test cases against the software build that includes the recent changes.
3. Analyze Results: Examine the test results. If the test cases pass without significant issues, it indicates that the recent changes have not broken core functionality, and the build is considered “sanity tested” and ready for more detailed testing or further development. If any test case fails, it suggests that the recent changes may have introduced issues that need to be addressed.

Example of Sanity Testing:

Let’s say you are working on a word processing software application, and the development team has made some code changes in the spell-checking feature. Before conducting a full regression test, you may perform sanity testing to ensure that the spell-checking feature still works after the changes.

Here are some sanity test cases for the spell-checking feature:

1. Open a document and type some misspelled words. Verify that the spell-checker underlines these words with red squiggly lines, indicating spelling errors.
2. Right-click on a misspelled word and confirm that the context menu offers suggestions for corrections.
3. Select a suggestion from the context menu and make sure the word is replaced with the correct spelling.
4. Add a new word to the application’s custom dictionary and ensure that it recognizes the word as correctly spelled.

If all these sanity test cases pass without significant issues, it suggests that the spell-checking feature still works correctly after the code changes. The build is considered sanity tested, and you can proceed with more comprehensive testing or further development. If any of these test cases fail, it indicates that the code changes may have affected the spell-checking functionality, and the development team should investigate and address the issues before proceeding.

Sanity testing is an important step to quickly assess the immediate impact of recent changes and to determine whether more extensive testing is warranted. It helps save time and resources by catching major issues early in the development process.