Difference between White Box testing and Black Box testing
In this article, we will discuss white box testing and black box testing, along with the comparison between them. In Black box testing (or “behavioral testing”), the tester understands what the program is supposed to do, rather than its internal working. Whereas, in White box testing, there is a testing of internal coding and infrastructure of software.
Before jumping directly to the comparison, let’s first see a brief description of white-box and black-box testing.
White Box testing
The term ‘white box’ is used because of the internal perspective of the system. The clear box or white box, or transparent box name denotes the ability to see through the software’s outer shell into its inner workings.
It is performed by Developers, and then the software will be sent to the testing team, where they perform black-box testing. The main objective of white-box testing is to test the application’s infrastructure. It is done at lower levels, as it includes unit testing and integration testing. It requires programming knowledge, as it majorly focuses on code structure, paths, conditions, and branches of a program or software. The primary goal of white-box testing is to focus on the flow of inputs and outputs through the software and strengthening the security of the software.
It is also known as structural testing, clear box testing, code-based testing, and transparent testing. It is well suitable and recommended for algorithm testing.
To read more about white box testing, you can refer to the following link – White box testing.
Black Box testing
The primary source of black-box testing is a specification of requirements that are stated by the customer. It is another type of manual testing. It is a software testing technique that examines the functionality of the software without knowing its internal structure or coding. It does not require programming knowledge of the software. All test cases are designed by considering the input and output of a particular function. In this testing, the test engineer analyzes the software against requirements, identifies the defects or bugs, and sends it back to the development team.
In this method, the tester selects a function and gives input value to examine its functionality, and checks whether the function is giving the expected output or not. If the function produces the correct output, then it is passed in testing, otherwise failed.
Black box testing is less exhaustive than White Box and Grey Box testing methods. It is the least time-consuming process among all the testing processes. The main objective of implementing black box testing is to specify the business needs or the customer’s requirements.
In other words, we can say that black box testing is a process of checking the functionality of an application as per the customer’s requirement. Mainly, there are three types of black-box testing: functional testing, Non-Functional testing, and Regression testing. Its main objective is to specify the business needs or the customer’s requirements.
To read more about black box testing, you can refer to the following link – Black Box testing.
White box testing v/s Black box testing
Now, let’s see the comparison chart between white-box testing and black-box testing. We are comparing both terms on the basis of some characteristics.
| S.no. | On the basis of | Black Box testing | White Box testing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Basic | It is a software testing technique that examines the functionality of software without knowing its internal structure or coding. | In white-box testing, the internal structure of the software is known to the tester. |
| 2. | Also known as | Black Box Testing is also known as functional testing, data-driven testing, and closed-box testing. | It is also known as structural testing, clear box testing, code-based testing, and transparent testing. |
| 3. | Programming knowledge | In black-box testing, there is less programming knowledge is required. | In white-box testing, there is a requirement of programming knowledge. |
| 4. | Algorithm testing | It is not well suitable for algorithm testing.
| It is well suitable and recommended for algorithm testing. |
| 5. | Usage | It is done at higher levels of testing that are system testing and acceptance testing.
| It is done at lower levels of testing that are unit testing and integration testing. |
| 6. | Automation | It is hard to automate black-box testing due to the dependency of testers and programmers on each other. | It is easy to automate the white box testing. |
| 7. | Tested by | It is mainly performed by the software testers. | It is mainly performed by developers. |
| 8. | Time-consuming | It is less time-consuming. In Black box testing, time consumption depends upon the availability of the functional specifications. | It is more time-consuming. It takes a long time to design test cases due to lengthy code. |
| 9. | Base of testing | The base of this testing is external expectations. | The base of this testing is coding which is responsible for internal working. |
| 10. | Exhaustive | It is less exhaustive than White Box testing. | It is more exhaustive than Black Box testing. |
| 11. | Implementation knowledge | In black-box testing, there is no implementation knowledge is required. | In white-box testing, there is a requirement of implementation knowledge. |
| 12. | Aim | The main objective of implementing black box testing is to specify the business needs or the customer’s requirements. | Its main objective is to check the code quality. |
| 13. | Defect detection | In black-box testing, defects are identified once the code is ready. | Whereas, in white box testing, there is a possibility of early detection of defects. |
| 14. | Testing method | It can be performed by trial and error technique. | It can test data domain and data boundaries in a better way. |
| 15. | Types | Mainly, there are three types of black-box testing: functional testing, Non-Functional testing, and Regression testing. | The types of white box testing are – Path testing, Loop testing, and Condition testing. |
| 16. | Errors | It does not find the errors related to the code. | In white-box testing, there is the detection of hidden errors. It also helps to optimize the code. |
Conclusion
So, both white box testing and black box testing are required for the successful delivery of software. But 100% testing is not possible with both cases. Tester is majorly responsible for finding the maximum defects to improve the application’s efficiency. Both black box testing and white box testing are done to certify that an application is working as expected.
Hence, it is necessary to understand both testing techniques. It will also be helpful to learn the difference between both terms to effectively pick up the right option.
So, that’s all about the article. Hope you find the article helpful and informative.