Domain Testing: Divide and Conquer - Testing Education

Chapter 2: Domain Testing: A Literature Review
As discussed in the introductory chapter, since exhaustive testing is impossible we
have to be able to do selective testing, but in a way that the entire population is
represented. Partitioning the input domain and selecting best representatives from
each partition is one way to achieve this goal. In this testing strategy, called domain
testing, the three main tasks are:
1. Dividing or partitioning the set of all possible test cases into partitions
based on some criterion.
2. Selecting candidates that best represent each partition.
3. Combining variables in case of programs having multiple variables.
2.01 Partitioning of Input Domain
This is the process of dividing the input domain or the set of all possible test cases
into partitions such that all test cases in one partition are equivalent to each other
with respect to some criterion. Although most of the literature describes
partitioning of input domain, similar analysis can be applied to the output domain
as well (Kaner et al., 2002; Kaner et al., 1999; Myers, 1979).
According to Kaner et al. (2002), test cases can be grouped into an
equivalence class if they satisfy the following conditions:
“(a) they all test the same thing; (b) if one of them catches a bug, the others
probably will too; and (c) if one of them doesn’t catch a bug, the others probably
won’t either” (p. 36).
dimensions:
Partitioning of input domain differs in the literature along the following
� White or Black:
• White-Box Testing Approach
o Path Analysis Approach
o Mutation Testing Approach
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