What are Test Cases? Introduction to Basic Concepts

What are Test Cases:

A test case is a term used to express a set of actions that a developer or tester uses to validate software. This software can be an app, system, or desktop interface software. Used by QA professionals, engineers, developers, and testers, these cases are made before releasing software and in the final stage of development of the entire code behind the software. This can involve testing a specific feature of this software or a group of features. If in a group, these cases are found in a test suite bound with a collective feature of that software. 

Why do We need Test Cases After All?

As mentioned before, they are usually done in the final development phase of software and are associated with many useful outcomes. They give the desired consistency one may need from their software in terms of functionality and features and also ensure better test coverage. Every possible scenario is covered in the test cases so that the software can be tested in all possible scenarios it will be exposed to. The test cases also enable the firm to avoid training for every new engineer they will hire as these test cases make everything very systematic. It does matter if the software was developed by some other engineer in the first or second release as test cases can be picked up at any time as they document every development phase in them. The new engineer will also relate to the old scenarios the software was tested on and can come up with new ones as well. 

Types of Test Cases:

They exist in three types: function test cases， integration test cases, and system test cases. 

Functional Test Cases: 

This type of test case involves data-driven inputs in which the user has to enter the value to execute the software, in other words, the function itself. 

System Test Cases:

Again, as the name suggests, this type of testing involves a system to be checked. it determines whether all or some selected features of an entire system are working under the guidelines and requirements of the clients and reveals errors that are linked on a system level. This helps the tester to polish and find an entire system before it is put to use.

Integration Test Cases: 

As the name suggests, it is used to check any errors during the integration of different components which are supposed to be interacting with each other. It usually comes after unit testing which we already discussed in our earlier blog posts in detail.

The test cases can also be classified as formal and informal test cases. The first one, all the inputs are well defined and known including test data and preconditions required for the testing. Informal testing is the type in which both the inputs and the outputs are not well defined. In this type, engineers log all the new errors and outputs for any input and reveal all aspects of the software which they may later find useful in the software development stages. 

To summarize our take on the question “What are Test Cases”, they are efficient ways to run debugging and explore a piece of software or system and offer flexibility to new testers when starting mid-way. These cases give the entire team valuable insights into the testing and operation of their project.