2.6 WHITE BOX TESTING

Software testing approaches that examine the program structure and derive test data from the program logic. Structural testing is sometimes referred to as clear-box testing since white boxes are considered opaque and do not really permit visibility into the code.

Synonyms for white box testing
• Glass Box testing
• Structural testing
• Clear Box testing
• Open Box Testing
Types of White Box testing

A typical rollout of a product is shown in figure 1 below.
The purpose of white box testing

Initiate a strategic initiative to build quality throughout the life cycle of a software product or service.
Provide a complementary function to black box testing.
Perform complete coverage at the component level.
Improve quality by optimizing performance.

Practices :

This section outlines some of the general practices comprising white-box testing process. In general, white-box testing practices have the
following considerations:
1. The allocation of resources to perform class and method analysis and to document and review the same.
2. Developing a test harness made up of stubs, drivers and test object libraries.
3. Development and use of standard procedures, naming conventions and libraries.
4. Establishment and maintenance of regression test suites and procedures.
5. Allocation of resources to design, document and manage a test history library.
6. The means to develop or acquire tool support for automation of capture/replay/compare, test suite execution, results verification and documentation capabilities.