Positive Testing: Meaning and Merits Explained with Real Test Scenarios

Getting to Know Positive Testing:

This guide will provide a brief introduction to one of the most prominent types of testing known as ‘Positive testing’.

Software Testing involves the process of verifying and validating software and ensuring that it functions as expected. A software tester must aim to identify defects and ensure that the application operates as intended. Various testing types and techniques are employed to achieve this.

Simple explanations, benefits, and methods of conducting Positive Testing are provided in this tutorial, along with easy-to-understand examples.

Testing types can be categorized as:

#1) Positive testing

#2) Negative Testing

Both of these testing types are essential for ensuring that the software functions as intended.

Explaining Positive Testing:

Positive Testing refers to a type of testing that verifies that the application being tested functions correctly with a set of valid inputs.

In other words, positive testing is performed within the defined boundaries and checks whether the product or application behaves as per the specification document when given a valid set of test data.

Example 1: A web application includes a form that needs to be filled out.

For instance, consider a sign-in page where the user needs to enter their username, password, and click on the submit button. If the user enters the correct username and password, they should be redirected to the next page.

Positive Testing Scenario:

Enter the Correct Username and Password (For Example, Username, and Password), click on the submit button, and verify that the user is successfully redirected to the next page as expected.

Example 2: Consider a Textbox that only accepts numbers.

Positive Testing Scenario:

Enter numbers and verify that the application accepts the input.

When to Perform Positive Testing?

Positive testing is performed when the application is ready for testing. Only after positive testing has been successfully conducted can a tester proceed with executing other planned scenarios for that functionality, such as negative testing, Database testing, etc.

Performing positive testing as soon as the build is ready is referred to as Smoke testing, build verification testing, sanity testing, quality gate, or any other similar terms. However, positive testing serves as the first step in the test execution process.

How to Perform Positive Testing?

The following test techniques are employed in positive testing:

• Boundary Value Analysis
• Equivalence Partitioning

These techniques are particularly useful when testing numeric fields. During positive testing, the tester should consider the input data, actions performed, and the expected output.

In positive testing, it is important for the tester to ensure that the test input falls within the boundaries of the test data.

#1) Boundary Value Analysis:

Boundary value analysis is a test technique utilized to test numeric fields. Test data is created by the tester to ensure it falls within the boundaries or data range.

Example: A field/system that accepts numbers from 1 to 100. Any other numbers are considered invalid.

Boundary values for this technique would include 0, 1, 2, 99, and 100 (values within the boundaries ranging from 1 to 100).

#2) Equivalence Partitioning:

Equivalence Partitioning is another testing technique in which the tester divides the test input into equal partitions and uses values from each partition as test data.

The tester must ensure that the test data includes values from all partitions.

Example: A field/system that accepts numbers from 1 to 100. Any other numbers are considered invalid.

When using the Equivalence Partitioning technique with Positive Testing, all test data should fall within the range of 1 to 100.

Advantages/Uses of Positive Testing

Positive Testing serves as the initial step in testing and paves the way for subsequent levels of testing.

This type of testing is employed to test the expected behavior of an application. If positive testing fails, it indicates that the basic functionality of the application is not working and immediate action should be taken to continue with further testing.

Positive testing saves the tester’s effort by identifying faulty builds in the early stages.

Positive testing confirms that the application is functionally sound within the specified input range, but it does not guarantee the overall quality of the application as testers cannot verify how the application behaves in unexpected situations, such as when a user enters incorrect data.

Example:

A web application includes a form that needs to be filled.

For example:, consider a sign-in page where the user needs to enter their username, password, and click on the submit button. If the user enters the correct username and password, they should be redirected to the next page.

Possible test scenarios for the above functionality include:

Test Scenario 1: Enter the correct username and password and click on the submit button.
Expected Result: User should be redirected to the next page.

Test Scenario 2: Enter an incorrect username and password and click on the submit button.
Expected Result: User should receive the appropriate error message stating ‘Username and password do not match’.

Test Scenario 3: Leave the fields blank and click on the submit button.
Expected Result: User should receive the appropriate error message stating ‘Enter a valid username’.

Test Scenario 4: Enter ‘123’ as the username and click on submit.
Expected Result: User should receive an error message stating ‘Username cannot be numeric’.

And so on…

Among all these scenarios, “Test Scenario 1” falls under positive testing, while the rest fall under negative testing.

Conclusion

Software testing plays a crucial role in delivering bug-free software. Positive testing is a testing type that confirms that the application functions as intended with all possible inputs.

Other testing types are also necessary to ensure that the application is free of bugs and stable.

We hope you now have a clear understanding of the concept of Positive Testing!!

Have you performed Positive Testing? Do you have any other interesting examples to share with us? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below!