Black Box Testing

Black box testing is a software testing style wherein the objective is

to examine whether software works for end-users as intended without
worrying about the internal system. In this, a tester observes the
behavior of a system entirely by inputs and outputs.

Types of Black Box Testing

Black box testing mainly comprises three types of testing:

Functional testing: It involves testing specific functions or features of

software under test. Functional testing includes unit testing, smoke testing,
sanity testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing.
Non-functional testing: It involves testing additional aspects of the software
that are beyond features and functionalities. It helps check how well a
system performs under high load and different environments. Non-
functional testing includes performance testing, load testing, stress testing,
volume testing, and security testing.
Regression testing: It involves testing the new version of software for any regression or
degradation in capabilities. It can be applied to both functional and non-functional
aspects of the software.

What are the Black Box Testing Techniques?

Testers use different techniques of black box testing based on the
requirement:
Equivalence partitioning: In this technique, the inputs are divided into
different groups or partitions, and one input from every group is tested to
find the results.
Boundary value analysis: As the name suggests, the tests in this
technique are designed to include representatives of boundary values
(inner and outer limits) in a range.
Decision table testing: This technique helps test the system’s behavior for
different input combinations. As the name suggests, the inputs are
represented in tabular form.
State transition testing: It is a technique used to test different states of
the system. It works well when there are different responses during the
transition from one state to another.
Error guessing: The testers use this technique to guess the error-prone
areas based on the application’s behavior and functionalities.

Example of Black Box Testing

Imagine a situation where you are looking to buy a new car, and you have done a bit of
research to come up with 3 options that suit your needs and budget. Now, how will you
evaluate these 3 options that you have to finally choose the best from the lot?
You will most probably take test drives to find the best one. Here, you are not
concerned about the internal machinery of the car. Instead, you rely on usability and
functionality to reach a conclusion.
That’s exactly how black box testing works—analyzing the functional aspects of
software.
Advantages of Black Box Testing

 It can easily be performed by testers with no technical background or

programming knowledge.
 It can start as soon as the functional specifications are complete.
 Both the testers and developers work independently, so the testing is balanced
and unbiased.
 It helps identify the defects and inconsistencies in the early stages of testing.

Disadvantages of Black Box Testing

 There is a high chance of not achieving any result at the end of the test.
 Writing test cases is slow and difficult as identifying all possible inputs in a limited
time becomes challenging.
 It is not ideal to use for large and complicated applications as complete test
coverage is not possible.
 As it is specification-dependent, building test cases without specifications
become difficult.

White Box Testing

White box testing is a type of software testing wherein the internal structure and design
of the item being tested are well known to the tester. It helps the developers in finding
out the internal flaws of the security.
Types of White Box Testing
Conditional testing: This type of testing checks the logical conditions for both true and
false values.
Path testing: It is a testing approach that uses the source code of a program to find
every possible executable path. It helps the testers achieve maximum path coverage
with the least number of test cases.
Unit testing: It is a testing method wherein individual units of software are tested. It
helps ensure that each component of the software works as intended.
Integration testing: It is a type of testing process in which individual software modules or
components are tested as a group. It helps ensure that the modules work fine when
merged.
Loop testing: This testing type that entirely focuses on validating the loop constructs
used in the algorithms.

White Box Testing Techniques

Testers use different techniques of white box testing, including:
Statement coverage: This technique makes sure that all executable statements in the
code are run and tested at least once.
Branch coverage: In this technique, the code is mapped into the branches of conditional
logic and ensures that unit tests cover every branch.
Path coverage: In this technique, the tester writes unit tests to execute all the possible
paths through the program’s control flow in order to identify broken, redundant, and
inefficient paths.
Control flow testing: It is a structural testing technique that helps determine the
execution order of statements of the program through a control structure.

Example of White Box Testing

Imagine a situation wherein a customer needs to transfer money to a friend who lives
abroad. S/he wants to use the mobile banking service provided by their bank to do this.
Testing the service involves identifying all the possible paths to help increase the test
coverage, such as:

 Is the customer allowed to transact in the selected currency?

 Does the friend’s account exist as a beneficiary?
 Is the amount to be transferred within the transaction limit?
 Is the customer subject to any local or international sanctions or limits?

This is how white box testing works—by analyzing the internal functionality.

Advantages of White Box Testing

 White box testing helps find hidden errors in an application as it checks and
works by internal functionality.
 It is much more thorough than traditional black-box testing.
 It helps get maximum test coverage while writing test scenarios, as the tester has
programming knowledge.

Disadvantages of White Box Testing

 White box testing is an exhaustive method of testing as it takes a

significant amount of time to develop the test cases.
 It might miss testing certain functionalities as only the available code
is tested.
 It requires skilled testers having programming knowledge to perform
white box testing.
 It is costly as compared to black box testing.

Key Similarities Between Black Box Testing and White Box Testing
 Black box and white box testing not only have differences, but they also
share some similarities. Here are some of resemblances between the two
testing types:

 Both black box and white box testing identify defects in the overall
application
 They are performed by the testers who interact with the software to
understand its functioning
 Both of them help discover the root cause of the problem
 They both focus on running the software and observing its behavior
 You use them to compare the actual results with expected results
 They both can be automated
 Both of their functions are to ensure that the software works properly
 Black box and white box require clear understanding of software
specifications

Black Box vs White Box Testing

The major difference between Black Box and White Box Testing is that the
former checks if the software works for end-users as intended without
worrying about the internal system, whereas the latter tests the code and
internal structure of software.

Black Box Testing White Box Testing

It is known as a higher level of testing as it It is performed at a lower level of testing,

analyzes the functional and non-functional for instance, unit testing and integration
aspects of software. testing.

It is done without any knowledge of the It is done to test the internal structure or
internal system. working of an application.

Test cases in this method are based on the Test cases in this method are based on the
requirement specifications document. detailed design document.
Testing techniques include equivalence Testing techniques include conditional
partitioning, boundary value analysis, decision testing, loop testing, control flow testing,
table testing, state transition testing, etc. data flow testing, branch testing, etc.

It is performed by developers or testers

It is performed by professional testers.
having coding knowledge.

It requires a significant amount of time to

It is the least time-consuming.
perform.

Conclusion

Both black box and white box testing have different techniques and different tools
depending on the type to test the software. However, they are an integral part of
the software Development life cycle as they remove bugs and improve the quality
& performance of the software significantly. And that is why you should know the
elements of black box vs white box testing.

Both these testing types verify whether the software is working as expected and
are crucial to delivering bug-free software.