White Box Testing

The White Box Testing is also known as Structural Testing, Clear Box Testing, Open Box Testing, etc. White Box Testing is a technique where the tester tests the software’s internal coding & structure. The reason behind its name is because in this type of testing, in eyes of a tester the whole system is like a white box and the tester can look everything happening inside with the code when the system/software executes any task.

In simple words, during White Box testing, the tester tests whether the code is working perfectly. The tester should have a clear understanding about what exactly the code does before starting any type of White Box testing.

The tester in White Box Testing gives some input data and then check the data flow, as well as how the system/software is reacting to the data supplied at each and every point in the code. It is then compared with the pre-defined functionalities of the system. Testing is done by giving various inputs and checking whether the result is the pre-defined output or not.

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White Box Testing Levels

White Box testing methods are implemented in the following levels of testing:-

ü  Unit Testing

ü  Integration Testing

ü  System Testing

White Box testing methods are used more in the development and integration phase of the system development.

Advantages

§  Thorough testing is possible.

§  Testing can be started as and when the code is ready, even before the front end is created.

§  Through White box techniques, even the smallest bugs can be tracked and later solved.

Disadvantages

§  White Box Testing is essential but time & resource consuming.

§  This type of testing can be really difficult and redundant if the requirements keep on changing frequently.

§  Not easy for testers to understand codes. The testers who don’t belong to the programming background find it difficult to understand what a block of code wants to say.

I hope this article will help the new comers to understand the concept clearly.