Structural testing

  • The structural testing is the testing of the structure of the system or component.
  • Structural testing is often referred to as ‘white box testing’ or ‘glass box’ or ‘clear-box testing’ because in structural testing we are interested in what is happening ‘inside the system/application’.
  • In structural testing the testers are required to have the knowledge of the internal implementations of the code. Here the testers require knowledge of how the software is implemented, how it works.
  • During structural testing the tester is concentrating on how the software does it. For example, a structural technique wants to know how loops in the software are working. Different test cases may be derived to exercise the loop once, twice, and many times. This may be done regardless of the functionality of the software.
  • Structural testing can be used at all levels of testing. Developers use structural testing in component testing and component integration testing, especially where there is good tool support for code coverage. Structural testing is also used in system and acceptance testing, but the structures are different. For example, the coverage of menu options or major business transactions could be the structural element in system or acceptance testing.