Static testing is a form of testing
that does not involve execution of the application to be tested. Static
testing involves going through the application’s code to check mainly
for – conformance to functional requirements, conformance to design,
missed functionality and coding errors. Static testing is generally
effective in finding errors in logic and coding.
Static testing may be performed by humans as well as software tools. Here, we look at static testing performed by humans. There are three main types of static testing that are performed.
Static testing may be performed by humans as well as software tools. Here, we look at static testing performed by humans. There are three main types of static testing that are performed.
- Desk checking
- Code walkthrough
- Code inspection
While desk-checking is performed
by the author of the code who reviews his/her portion of code, the other
two techniques of walkthrough and inspection involve a group of people
apart from the author of the code performing the review.
Normally, static testing is performed in the time frame between when the application is coded and dynamic testing begins. Static tests may be performed even earlier as parts of your application are developed or even at earlier stages in the development life-cycle to review design and so on.
Static testing techniques help find errors sooner. According to the generally accepted belief on costs of fixing errors, the sooner the errors are identified the less expensive they are to fix. Errors found during static testing are quicker and cheaper to fix than if they were found in a formal dynamic testing phase or even later.
Errors found during static testing can often be precisely pin-pointed to a particular location in the code. Also, going by the general tendency of defects to cluster together, it is likely that we can identify error clusters and their location, to be addressed as a batch. This quality of static testing contrasts with dynamic testing and chiefly black-box testing techniques which tend to highlight the symptom of an error. For example, one may observe errors during program execution such as incorrect validation of inputs or crashes which represent symptoms of the underlying error condition. Further debugging is needed to ascertain the location of the error and address it.
Static testing is sometimes criticized on the grounds that it cannot unearth “all types” of defects or defects that are complex and so on. Static testing is useful to find certain types of errors more quickly or effectively than dynamic testing. It is not a case of having to choose between either static testing or dynamic software testing; both techniques are complementary and together help improve quality.
Normally, static testing is performed in the time frame between when the application is coded and dynamic testing begins. Static tests may be performed even earlier as parts of your application are developed or even at earlier stages in the development life-cycle to review design and so on.
Static testing techniques help find errors sooner. According to the generally accepted belief on costs of fixing errors, the sooner the errors are identified the less expensive they are to fix. Errors found during static testing are quicker and cheaper to fix than if they were found in a formal dynamic testing phase or even later.
Errors found during static testing can often be precisely pin-pointed to a particular location in the code. Also, going by the general tendency of defects to cluster together, it is likely that we can identify error clusters and their location, to be addressed as a batch. This quality of static testing contrasts with dynamic testing and chiefly black-box testing techniques which tend to highlight the symptom of an error. For example, one may observe errors during program execution such as incorrect validation of inputs or crashes which represent symptoms of the underlying error condition. Further debugging is needed to ascertain the location of the error and address it.
Static testing is sometimes criticized on the grounds that it cannot unearth “all types” of defects or defects that are complex and so on. Static testing is useful to find certain types of errors more quickly or effectively than dynamic testing. It is not a case of having to choose between either static testing or dynamic software testing; both techniques are complementary and together help improve quality.