Integration Testing: 4 Reasons Why You Should Use It
As its name implies, integration testing is the process of analysing individual components to understand how well they perform conjoined. These components are combined to better understand numerous modules operating as one unit. There are various kinds of integration testing, such as Big Bang Testing, Incremental Testing, Top-Down Testing, and Bottom-Up Testing.
We have identified 4 key reasons as to why integration testing is essential, and why you should employ it in your organization:
- Enables Better Integration of Modules
- Prevents Changes in Data during Module Transfers
- Enables Effective Third-Party Testing
- Overcomes Problems of Manual Testing
1. Enables Better Integration of Modules
Whenever businesses hire engineers to develop an application, it is typically broken down into multiple modules. Each module is handled by a separate developer, and different logic and code may be used for every module, even if the same language is applied.
There is always a risk that modules developed by different programmers may not sync when constructed. By deploying integration testing, such issues can be prevented.
2. Prevents Changes in Statistics during Module Transfers
It’s quite normal for information changes to occur when transferred from 1 module into another; the developer might have designed the module differently from what’s sent. Consequently, this causes issues in integration with other modules because of such alterations.
If your business is facing this issue, integration testing can help by testing the compatibility of each module early-on to help make changes so.
3. Enables Successful Third-Party Testing
Application Programming Interface, or API, is made up of clear directions on communicating between different components. Possessing an exceptional API is essential for companies as it makes developing computer applications simpler. Modules usually interact with such APIs or third-party tools to integrate a user-friendly outlook.
However, as we discussed previously, data generally changes while moving. For that reason, it’s important to check whatever is obtained by the API is accurate and the response meets expectations. For this purpose, integration testing is highly valuable.
4. Overcomes Issues of Manual Testing
A programmer typically uses the following approach for manual testing:
- Identifies the issue
- Brainstorms ways to solve the issue
- Selects the Most Suitable course of action to fix the problem
- Manually assesses whether the problem has been solved
- In the case of remaining issues, repeats the measures
- The issue with manual testing is you see one aspect of this machine at a time. Because of this, it is important for programmers to use integration testing in order to avoid faults from the end-product.
Conclusion
We have identified 4 Important reasons pertaining to the significance of integration testing:
- Different code may be used by programmers, thus integration is necessary to bring uniformity in the end-product
- Data can alter while moving from one point to another
- When information interacts with APIs/third-parties, it may diverge from what might have originally been shipped
- Manual testing is not as useful as integration testing
Moreover, developers predict that integration testing will not only become mainstream but also become a requirement in the near future.
If you are still on the fence, then here is an interesting thread on Quora about the future of software testing.
