documentation testing in software testing

Documentation testing is a non-functional type of software testing.

  • It is a type of non-functional testing.
  • Any written or pictorial information describing, defining, specifying, reporting, or certifying activities, requirements, procedures, or results’. Documentation is as important to a product’s success as the product itself. If the documentation is poor, non-existent, or wrong, it reflects on the quality of the product and the vendor.
  • As per the IEEE Documentation describing plans for, or results of, the testing of a system or component, Types include test case specification, test incident report, test log, test plan, test procedure, test report. Hence the testing of all the above mentioned documents is known as documentation testing.
  • This is one of the most cost effective approaches to testing. If the documentation is not right: there will be major and costly problems. The documentation can be tested in a number of different ways to many different degrees of complexity. These range from running the documents through a spelling and grammar checking device, to manually reviewing the documentation to remove any ambiguity or inconsistency.
  • Documentation testing can start at the very beginning of the software process and hence save large amounts of money, since the earlier a defect is found the less it will cost to be fixed.