Integration Testing

Testing combined parts of the software to ensure they work together.

Also Known As

Build Quality In (in Lean Software Development)
Continuous Integration
Continuous Integration (in Extreme Programming)
Continuous Integration (CI) (in DevOps)
End-to-End Testing
System Testing

Addresses / Mitigates

Software Dependency Risk: Ensures that integrated components work together as expected.
Implementation Risk: Validates that the implementation meets requirements.
Regression Risk: Detects regressions early in the integration phase.

Attendant Risks

Schedule Risk: Can be time-consuming, leading to delays in the project timeline.
Software Dependency Risk: Adds dependencies on test environments and their availability.

Used By

DevOps: Continuous Integration (CI) regularly integrates code changes into a shared repository to detect and fix problems early.
Extreme Programming: XP practices include integrating code into a shared repository frequently, which helps in identifying integration issues early.
Lean Software Development: Lean builds quality in, and integration testing is part of ensuring quality from the beginning.
Scrum: Integration testing is part of the Definition of Done in Scrum.

Description

"Integration testing is the phase in software testing in which individual software modules are combined and tested as a group. It occurs after unit testing and before validation testing." - Integration testing, Wikipedia

Integration Testing involves testing combined parts of the software to ensure they work together correctly. This practice helps in identifying and fixing issues that arise when individual components interact, ensuring that the overall system functions as intended.

See: