Introduction
Boundary value analysis and equivalence partitioning both are test case design strategies in black box testing. Equivalence Partitioning and Boundary value analysis are linked to each other and can be used together at all levels of testing.
Equivalence Partitioning
Equivalence partitioning (also called Equivalence Class Partitioning) is a software testing technique that divides the input data of a software unit into partitions of equivalent data from which test cases can be derived. In principle, test cases are designed to cover each partition at least once. This technique tries to define test cases that uncover classes of errors, thereby reducing the total number of test cases that must be developed. An advantage of this approach is reduction in the time required for testing a software due to lesser number of test cases.
Equivalence partitioning is typically applied to the inputs of a tested component, but may be applied to the outputs in rare cases. The equivalence partitions are usually derived from the requirements specification for input attributes that influence the processing of the test object. A shorter definition is that in this method the input domain data is divided into different equivalence data classes. This method is typically used to reduce the total number of test cases to a finite set of testable test cases, still covering maximum requirements. Another much concrete definition is that equivalence partitioning is the process of taking all possible test cases and placing them into classes and, while testing, one test value is picked from each class.
Example:
If you are testing for an input box accepting numbers from 1 to 1000 then, there is no use in writing thousand test cases for all 1000 valid input numbers plus other test cases for invalid data. Using equivalence partitioning method above test cases can be divided into three sets of input data called classes. Each test case is a representative of respective class. So, from the above example, we can divide our test cases into three equivalence classes of some valid and invalid inputs.
- One input data class with all valid inputs. Pick a single value from range 1 to 1000 as a valid test case. If you select other values between 1 and 1000 then result is going to be same. So one test case for valid input data should be sufficient.
- Another input data class with all values below lower limit (for example any value below 1, as an invalid input data test case).
- Last input data with any value greater than 1000 to represent third invalid input class.
SCHEMA 2
So using equivalence partitioning we have categorized all possible test cases into three classes. Test cases with other values from any class should give you the same result. We have selected one representative from every input class to design our test cases. Test case values are selected in such a way that largest number of attributes of equivalence class can be exercised. In conclusion, equivalence partitioning uses fewest test cases to cover maximum requirements.
Boundary value analysis
Boundary value analysis is a software testing technique in which tests are designed to include representatives of boundary values. The idea comes from the Boundary (topology). Given that we have a set of test vectors to test the system, a topology can be defined on that set. Those inputs which belong to the same equivalence class as defined by the equivalence partitioning theory would constitute the basis (topology). Given that the basis sets are neighbors as defined in neighborhood (mathematics), there would exist a boundary between them. The test vectors on either side of the boundary are called boundary values.
In practice this would require that the test vectors can be ordered, and that the individual parameters follows some kind of order (either partial order or total order). For the most part, errors are observed in the extreme ends of the input values, so these extreme values like start/end or lower/upper values are called Boundary values and analysis of these Boundary values is called “Boundary value analysis”. Boundary value analysis is a black box test design technique and it is used to find the errors at boundaries of input domain rather than finding those errors in the center of input. Each boundary has a valid boundary value and an invalid boundary value. Test cases are designed based on the both valid and invalid boundary values. Usually is chosen one test case from each boundary. Boundary value analysis is a next part of Equivalence partitioning for designing test cases where test cases are selected at the edges of the equivalence classes. The expected input and output values to the software component should be extracted from the component specification. The values are then grouped into sets with identifiable boundaries. Each set, or partition, contains values that are expected to be processed by the component in the same way. It is important to consider both valid and invalid partitions when designing test cases.
Example:
Referring to our example mentioned above we will have the following test cases:
- Test cases with test data exactly as the input boundaries of input domain (values 1 and 1000 in our case)
- Test data with values just below the extreme edges of input domains (values 0 and 999 in our case)
- Test data with values just above the extreme edges of input domain (values 2 and 1001 in our case)
Bibliography
- https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/what-is-boundary-value-analysis-and-equivalence-partitioning/
- https://www.reqtest.com/blog/what-is-boundary-value-analysis-and-equivalence-partitioning/
- https://www.qualitytesting.info/forum/topics/difference-between-equivalence?xg_source=activity
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary-value_analysis
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalence_partitioning
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