Negative Testing

Negative Testing is a software testing technique that focuses on ensuring the application can handle invalid or unexpected inputs gracefully. The primary goal is to verify that the software does not crash or produce incorrect results when faced with erroneous inputs.

Key Features of Negative Testing

Robustness: Ensures the software can handle invalid or unexpected inputs without failing.
Error Handling: Verifies that the application has proper error handling mechanisms in place.
Security: Helps identify potential vulnerabilities and improve the overall security of the software.

Example of Negative Testing

Imagine an online login form with the following requirements:

Accepts a username and password.
Username must be between 5 and 15 characters.
Password must be between 8 and 20 characters and include at least one number and one special character.

Benefits of Negative Testing

Robustness: Ensures the application can handle unexpected inputs without failing.
Error Handling: Verifies that the application properly handles errors and provides meaningful messages.
Security: Helps identify and mitigate potential security vulnerabilities.

Limitations of Negative Testing

Complexity: Requires identifying all possible invalid inputs, which can be time-consuming.
Resource Intensive: May require significant resources to thoroughly test all negative scenarios.