Sanity Testing Vs Regression Testing – Key Differences

While software testing is essential to ensure the quality and reliability of a software product, it involves several types of testing that are crucial to its success. Two of the most commonly used testing methods in software testing are sanity testing and regression testing. 

This blog post will discuss Sanity Vs Regression testing, their key importance in software testing, and when to use them. 

What is Sanity Testing?

Sanity testing checks whether a software product works correctly when a new module or functionality gets implemented to an existing effect. Sanity testing is a software testing technique that quickly evaluates the quality of the software release to determine whether it is eligible for further rounds of testing.

This testing is usually performed after receiving a reasonably stable software build or sometimes when a software build might have undergone minor changes in the code or functionality. It decides if end-to-end testing of a software product shall be carried out further or not.

Sanity testing is also a Surface Level Testing which helps decide if the software build is good enough to pass to the next level of testing.

What Is Regression Testing?

Regression testing ensures any new “bug fixes or any changes in the requirement” do not affect existing and already stable application functionalities. Regression testing is effective when automated too and is usually performed after some modifications have been made in the software build after requirement changes or bug fixes.

Once Sanity testing of the changed functionality is completed, all the impacted features of the application require complete testing. This is called regression testing. Whenever bug fixes are done in the existing software, some test scenarios must be executed to verify the bug fixes. In addition to these, the QA team also has to check the impacted areas based on the code changes. All those test scenarios must be executed in regression testing to handle related functionalities.

Key Points of Sanity Testing vs Regression Testing

• Sanity testing is the subset of regression testing, ensuring the newly added functionality’s stability. In contrast, regression testing ensures the software works correctly after adding new features.
• Sanity testing is performed under regression testing, whereas various testing types occur under regression testing.  
• Sanity testing ensures that the software is ready for the next level of testing. In contrast, regression testing is about testing the software functionality in detail to find the possible bug issue.
• Both Sanity tests and regression tests are ideal tests for automation as they are executed multiple times, usually every time a build is provided to the testers. 

Conclusion

To sum it up, sanity testing and regression testing are required software testing techniques that help ensure the quality and reliability of software applications. Understanding the key differences between these two techniques can help software testers and developers choose the right approach for their testing needs and ensure that the software is bug-free and meets user expectations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can we do regression testing before sanity?

It’s essential to do sanity testing before regression testing. This way, we can catch any big problems early on and focus our regression testing efforts on a working build.

Is Sanity Testing done before Regression Testing?

Yes, Regression testing is carried out after executing sanity tests of any altered functionality. Sanity testing is the subset of regression testing. It ensures bug fixes, newly added functionality or any other code changes don’t cause significant bug issues in the software. It determines whether or not the software is eligible for the next level of testing.

Is Sanity Testing part of Regression Testing?

Yes, sanity testing is a subset of regression testing. It ensures any types of changes in the code don’t affect the software’s existing functionality and whether the software is eligible for the next level of testing or not.

Why Sanity is subset of Regression Testing?

Sanity testing is the subset of regression testing because, regression testing is not a testing in itself, it’s the combination of various types of tests. Each time a new functionality is added in the software, regression testing runs and ensure the overall functionality of software is working properly, in this process it is the sanity testing under the hood which ensure the stability of newly added functionality and evaluate software is ready for the next level of testing.