Black Box vs White Box Testing: Do You Require Both?

Software testing is a science full of particular terms and classifications. Black box and white box testing are amongst them. QA specialists run tests with a clear knowledge of how a program or an individual feature has to work. However, there are two methods this process may go. 

Normally, a testing specialist from an outsourced QA organization doesn’t have access to code and doesn’t know how characteristics operate on the backend. They conduct black-box testing, communicating with functionalities via the frontend while everything “in the box” remains secret. The opposite method, white box testing, indicates full access to everything in the app.

A QA engineer can test an app imitating real user behavior or “look inside” the secret “box” if required. So let’s take a closer look at these kinds of testing and learn more about their particularities.

What Is Black Box Testing?

As you’ve already understood, black-box testing implies driving a quality check without knowledge of architecture or access to the code of a product below the test. A QA specialist doesn’t require this information. Rather than the backend technologies, they concentrate on the conditions described in the technical documentation. Hence, QA engineers review only the final product, not underlying technologies.

Advantages of Black Box Testing

• Quicker test case development: as the testers are only bothered with the GUI of the application, they do not require to dig into the code to recognize process issues.
• User experience: tests are conducted from a user’s point of view.
• An unbiased report of the project: the tester and developer are two different people. The tester does not have an understanding of the application’s code, so they do not have a personal preference towards the code’s functionality.

Disadvantages of Black Box Testing

• Test paths can be missed or repeated: due to the fact the programmer and tester are two distinct entities, test processes can be falsely duplicated. There is also a chance that some tracks may not be recognized in testing.
• Not all features of the application can be tested: due to the tester’s lack of coding experience, some functions and characteristics are unable to be evaluated.
• Requires precise and concise test specifications: if the testers don’t understand what they require to test, they can not provide a quality project.

What Is White Box Testing?

White box testing, on the contrary, indicates that a QA engineer understands software architecture and knows code that powers all those features that need testing. In this case, a QA specialist can employ code as an extra source of information through testing. The underlying logic encourages a QA specialist to track the relevant cases. White box tests are driven mostly by developers.

Advantages of White Box Testing

• Programming expertise: testers will be able to sort through and recognize problematic bits of code, saving programmers time seeking for flaws.
• Identify problems quicker: testers can employ unit testing to test small groups of source code and discover flaws in the code much earlier in development
• Recognize security issues: some white box testers are concentrated on performing multiple attacks at the project’s code to exhibit any security risks or flaws.

Disadvantages of White Box Testing

• Difficulty finding testers: only certain testers are able of performing White Box testing, so resources are limited.
• Expense: because of the short amount of qualified testers, the price can be a negative circumstance for some businesses.
• Human error: as with any other human-based testing, there is an opportunity that codes can be wrongly missed.

What Is Gray Box Testing?

Gray box testing is a mixture of the techniques described above, so it indicates partial knowledge of the product code. A QA specialist has confined access to the details about architecture and code. All the different aspects remain a developers’ secret. Still, even limited access can be important when looking for context-specific bugs.

Also Read: A Comprehensive Guide On Writing A Bug Report

To Sum Up: Which One to Perform?

You cannot replace white box testing for black box testing or vice versa. Both are important for accomplishing the purpose of the software testing process. Both have a particular purpose and place in the software development pipeline. Used in combination, white box, and black-box testing improve the QA check. They help to obtain maximum bug removal, discovering defects through both interactions with software and identifying the root causes of those defects.

At TestUnity, we strive for the highest quality in every project, and our professional QA specialists are ready to ensure it. Contact us if you’re looking for a dedicated team to enhance your product’s quality.

TestUnity

Testunity is a SaaS-based technology platform driven by a vast community of testers & QAs spread around the world, powered by technology & testing experts to create the dedicated testing hub. Which is capable of providing almost all kind of testing services for almost all the platforms exists in software word.