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Difference between Testing and Debugging
Both Testing and Debugging are important steps during and after the development of any software or application developed in any programming language. On the basis of their features and methods of practice, we can distinguish between Testing and Debugging.
Read this article to learn more about Testing and Debugging and how they are different from each other.
What is Testing?
Testing is a process to check if a software application is working properly or not. The primary goal of testing is to find the errors and bugs in an application. The person who performs the testing is known as a "tester". Sometimes, testing is performed by the developer of the application; in that case, it is referred to as unit testing.
Testing an application covers only the functional behavior the application, hence a tester is supposed to have functional knowledge only. An application can be tested manually as well as automatically with the help of some tools. Examples of testing include: unit testing, system testing, white box testing, black box testing, etc.
What is Debugging?
Debugging is performed by the developers of the application to fix the bugs and errors found in the system/application. The primary goal of debugging is to address the exact root cause at code level to fix the errors and bugs found during the testing.
Debugging requires technical and coding knowledge, therefore it is majorly performed by the developers of the application. The debugging of an application is always performed manually; it cannot be automated.
Difference between Testing and Debugging
The following are the important differences between Testing and Debugging −
Key |
Testing |
Debugging |
|---|---|---|
Definition |
Testing is a process to check if the application is working same as it was supposed to do, and not working as it was not supposed to do. |
Debugging is the activity performed by developers to fix the bug found in the system. |
Objective |
The main objective of Testing is to find bugs and errors in an application which get missed during the unit testing by the developer. |
The main objective of Debugging is to find the exact root cause at code level to fix the errors and bugs found during the testing. |
Perform |
As Testing is mainly to find out the errors and bugs is mainly performed by the testers. Also if testing is at developer end known as unit testing then it is performed by the Developer. |
Debugging is to find the missing or de-faulty code in an application hence major performed by the developers only. |
Knowledge Required |
As Testing covers the functional and behavioral flow of an application so only functional knowledge is required for the tester to perform the testing. |
Debugging is to find the error at code level so technical and code level knowledge is required for the developer to perform debugging. |
Automation |
Testing can be manual or made automated with the help of different tools. |
Debugging can't be get automated it is always be the manual. |
Level |
Testing on basis of level of performing is at different level i.e., unit testing, integration testing, system testing, etc. |
No such level of Debugging is possible. |
Conclusion
The most significant difference that you should note here is that testing is the process of checking errors in an application, whereas debugging is an activity to resolve the bugs and errors found in the application while testing.
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