Integration Testing

Integration Testing involves assessing the interactions between integrated components within a system, particularly focusing on how these modules communicate and function as a cohesive unit. This testing phase is commonly employed in industries such as software development, automotive engineering, aerospace, telecommunications, and health informatics, where systems are often composed of various interconnected modules that must operate seamlessly together. It is especially relevant during the later stages of the software development lifecycle, following unit testing but preceding system testing, and it helps developers identify interaction issues early on. Teams composed of software developers, testers, and sometimes system architects typically participate in this phase, as their collaborative efforts can uncover discrepancies in data flow, interface mismatches, or failure to execute tasks as designed. Successful integration testing can result in significant time and cost savings by identifying and rectifying issues before they escalate into more significant problems during higher-level testing phases or deployment. Use cases include verifying that APIs function as intended when called between different services, ensuring that a newly developed module can correctly process inputs from existing modules, and validating user-specified outcomes in conditional branches that stem from integrated sources.