Software Testing And Quality Assurance Questions Medium
Equivalence partitioning is a software testing technique that involves dividing the input data into different groups or partitions, where each partition is expected to exhibit similar behavior. The main objective of equivalence partitioning is to reduce the number of test cases required for thorough testing while still ensuring adequate coverage.
The concept is based on the assumption that if a particular input value within a partition is valid or invalid, then all other values within the same partition will exhibit the same behavior. This means that testing one representative value from each partition is sufficient to validate the behavior of all other values within that partition.
To apply equivalence partitioning, the input domain is divided into multiple partitions based on the characteristics of the input data. These characteristics can include ranges, data types, or specific conditions. For example, if a software application accepts numeric input, the partitions could be defined as positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero.
Once the partitions are defined, test cases are designed to cover at least one representative value from each partition. This ensures that both valid and invalid inputs are tested, as well as boundary conditions. By selecting values from each partition, the tester can identify potential defects or issues within the software application.
Equivalence partitioning helps in optimizing the testing effort by reducing the number of test cases required, as testing all possible input values is often impractical or time-consuming. It also helps in identifying defects that may occur due to incorrect handling of specific input conditions or ranges.
However, it is important to note that equivalence partitioning is not a standalone testing technique and should be used in conjunction with other techniques such as boundary value analysis and error guessing to achieve comprehensive test coverage.