The complex and time-consuming nature of software development has made it essential for organizations to implement a comprehensive software testing strategy. Some enterprises still use conventional and manual testing methods, whereas others automate software testing to save both time, efforts and cost. However, the software testing plan of each organization must concentrate on a number of additional points to improve both efficiency and productivity. The software application verification activities can be divided into static and dynamic testing.
Under static testing, the QA engineers refer to a checklist to ensure that the process is going according to preset standards including coding, deployment and integration. Some of the widely used static testing methodologies are inspection, review and walkthrough. On the other hand, dynamic software testing aims to evaluate the quality of an application by giving input values and checking the expected output. The commonly used dynamic testing activities include unit tests, system tests, acceptance tests and system tests. So the software testing plan must identify if a verification activities will fall under static or dynamic testing methodologies.
Key Differences between Static and Dynamic Software Testing
1. Objective: The software testing strategy of an enterprise must emphasize on both static and dynamic testing techniques. However, the objective of each type of testing will differ. The static testing techniques must be used to assess the design, code and documentation based on checklists and predefined processes. But the dynamic testing techniques must aim to identify the errors, flaws, bugs or bottlenecks in the software.
2. Execution of Code: The static testing methodologies are used to improve the software quality by identifying errors in the early stages of development. These methods identify flaws in the application checking the code, specifications and design documents manually. So code is not executed under this testing. On the other hand, dynamic testing methods aim to check the functional behavior of the application, required resources and overall performance of the system by executing the code.
3. Types of Defects: The static as well as dynamic testing must be performed to find two distinct sets of defects, errors or flaws in the application. As static testing is conducted in the verification stage, it identifies defects like syntax errors in the code, missing requirements and design defects. But dynamic testing is performed in the validation stage. So it uses several techniques to identify defects like if the variables are not constant or the output is meeting the expected standards.
4. Testing Techniques: The testing techniques used for static and dynamic testing also vary. Static testing normally used certain techniques to prevent defects by verifying the process. So it uses techniques like informal and technical reviews, walkthrough, inspection and static code review. But dynamic testing uses several techniques to identify and fix defects in the application, while doing validation process. Therefore, dynamic testing uses techniques like unit testing, system testing and integration testing.
5. Coverage: Normally, static testing can be carried out before compilation. But dynamic testing can be done only after compilation and linking. Also, each type of testing will cover different aspects of the software. Static testing will provide structural and statement coverage to improve quality through reviews and comments. At the same time, dynamic testing will cover the executable file of the code to identify and fix all types of bugs.
6. ROI: Unlike dynamic testing, static testing is performed in the early stages of development. Therefore, static testing is considered to be more cost-efficient in comparison to dynamic testing. The static testing techniques are further considered to get higher return on investment (ROI) as no test automation tools are required. However, static testing requires more meeting and manual efforts in comparison to dynamic testing.
An effective software application testing strategy must include the static as well as dynamic testing methodologies to improve software quality. The static testing methods can be used to for the purpose of verification, whereas the dynamic testing methods will involve validation.
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