Smoke Test

white smoke



A smoke test is a quick and simple test that is conducted on a software or product to determine if it is functioning as expected. The purpose of a smoke test is to identify any major issues or bugs before proceeding with more comprehensive testing.

The term "smoke test" comes from the electronics industry, where it was used to test new hardware components. The test involved turning on the device and seeing if it started smoking, which would indicate a major issue.

In software development, a smoke test involves running a basic set of tests on the product to ensure that it is stable and functional. This can include checking that the user interface is working correctly, that basic functionality is present, and that there are no major bugs or crashes.

Smoke tests are typically performed early in the development cycle, often during the initial stages of testing. They are intended to catch major issues early on, before more time and resources are invested in testing.

While smoke tests are not comprehensive and will not catch all issues, they are an important part of the testing process. They help ensure that the product is stable enough to move on to more comprehensive testing, and they can save time and resources by identifying major issues early on.

In summary, smoke tests are a quick and simple way to ensure that a software or product is functioning as expected. They are an important part of the testing process and should be conducted early on to catch major issues before more comprehensive testing is performed.