Difference Between Smoke and Sanity Testing


Smoke testing and Sanity testing are two important types of testing in software development. Both the tests are used to validate the functionality of a software product and identify any critical issues, however they are quite different in their scope.

The basic difference between the two is that smoke testing is one that ensures that the features of an application are working fine or not, whereas sanity testing is one that is performed to test whether all the errors have been fixed after the build of the application.

Read this article to learn more about smoke testing and sanity testing and how they are different from each other.

What is Smoke Testing?

Smoke testing is a type of testing that is performed to determine if a software product is stable or not. It ensures that the most important functions of an application are working correctly.

Smoke testing is considered as a subcategory of acceptance testing/build verification testing. It checks an application for all of its functionalities to ensure that all its builds are fine or not.

Smoke testing is generally performed by the developers and testers of the application. It can be performed manually as well as automatically. It is generally done when a new product is developed or after any major changes in a developed product.

What is Sanity Testing?

Sanity testing is considered as a subcategory of regression testing. Performed by testers, it tells about the measure of the rationality of a software product. Sanity testing is generally performed after the completion of regression testing.

Sanity testing is carried out to verify that a software product is functioning correctly, with the primary objective of validating that the changes done in a software product have not broken the existing functionality, and that the application is still usable. Sanity testing is performed on a smaller scale than full regression testing, and it mostly focuses on the frequently used functions of a software.

Now, let us discuss the differences between smoke testing and sanity testing in detail.

Difference between Smoke and Sanity Testing

The following table highlights all the major differences between smoke and sanity testing −

S.No.

Smoke Testing

Sanity Testing

1.

It is done to ensure that the functionalities of the program are working fine.

It is done to check if the bugs have been fixed after the build or not.

2.

It is considered a subset of acceptance testing.

It is considered as a subset of regression testing.

3.

It is documented.

It isn't documented.

4.

It can be done by developers or testers.

It is generally performed by testers.

5.

It may or may not be stable.

It is stable.

6.

It is scripted.

It is not scripted.

7.

It is done to understand the stability of the system or product.

It is done to understand the measure of rationality of the product.

8.

It is done to test the functionality of the product or system.

It is used only in case of modified or defective functions of product.

9.

It can be done manually or using automation.

It is generally done manually, not using automation.

10.

It is done when a new product is built.

It is done after completing regression testing.

Conclusion

To conclude, smoke testing is a high-level test that is used to validate if an application is stable, whereas sanity testing is a low-level test that determines if the most critical functions of a software are working properly.

Updated on: 22-Feb-2023

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