Regression Testing & Retesting: Differences between Two
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Today every business be it a start-up or an established enterprise has realized the importance of software testing. Therefore before releasing their software in the market, they conduct a variety of tests. And many times businesses conduct regression testing and retest their software again and again to ensure its correctness and robustness. Often people confuse regression testing and retesting as one and use them interchangeably. However, there is a big difference between these two methods. Let us now look at the difference between these two testing techniques in detail. What is regression testing? It is a software testing method in which software is tested every time a change is made in the software. The main aim of this test is to ensure that frequent changes in the software don’t affect its existing functionality. Usually whenever any change is made to the code of the software such as the addition of new code, removal of old code, addition or removal of functionalities, the chances of bugs getting introduced or old bugs getting active or reintroduced is high and to check this regression testing is required. What is retesting? It is also known as confirmation testing and is performed to ensure that the defects which were raised during the SDLC (software development life cycle) are fixed and work according to the specifications. During retesting, the failed test cases are re-executed and passed. It is a process in which the test cases which got failed earlier or had some issues/bugs earlier are first fixed and then tested again to ensure that the bugs are removed and issues are resolved. It involves running the previously failed test cases again on the new software to verify whether the defects posted earlier are fixed or not. What is the difference between regression testing and retesting? Regression Testing It is done to check that the code changes do not affect any existing functionality of the software It is performed for passed test cases It does not include defect verification It can be run in parallel with retesting depending on project and resource availability In this testing type, automation testing is preferred The test cases are derived from the functional specification, the user manuals, and user tutorials
Retesting It ensures that the test cases which failed earlier are passed after the defects are fixed It is performed for failed test cases It includes defect verification It is performed before the regression testing process Automation is not possible, hence it is done manually Test cases that are failed in the prior execution are only re-executed
Conclusion: To achieve high-quality software and to deliver a seamless UX enterprises updates their software timely. But it is often observed that whenever any change is made to the software some bugs arise which affects the existing functionalities of the software. And while testing the software some
tests pass and some fail, which again calls for the need testing. This is where retesting and regression testing play their role. But often people get confused between these two testing types. Therefore, in this article, we have mentioned the major point of difference between these testing methods. Leverage regression testing from a next-gen QA and software testing services provider to achieve highquality software. About the author: I am a technical content writer and I write articles on various IT-related topics. In this article, I have tried to share my views on the difference between regression testing and retesting.