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Definition
1. Gray Box Testing is a software testing method which is a combination of Black Box Testing method and White Box Testing method. In Black Box Testing, the internal structure of the item being tested is unknown to the tester and in White Box Testing the internal structure in known. In Gray Box Testing, the internal structure is partially known. This involves having access to internal data structures and algorithms for purposes of designing the test cases, but testing at the user, or black-box level.
2. Gray Box testing refers to the technique of testing a system with limited knowledge of the internals of the system. Gray Box testers have access to detailed design documents with information beyond requirement documents. Gray Box tests are generated based on information such as state-based models or architecture diagrams of the target system
Advantages:
Offers Combined Benefits – Leverage strengths of both Black Box and White Box testing wherever possible.
Non Intrusive – Gray Box does not rely on access to source code or binaries. Instead, based on interface definition, functional specifications, and application architecture.
Intelligent Test Authoring – Based on the limited information available, a Gray Box tester can author intelligent test scenarios, especially around data type handling, communication protocols and exception handling.
Unbiased Testing – The demarcation between testers and developer is still maintained. The handoff is only around interface definitions and documentation without access to source code or binaries.
Disadvantages:
Partial Code Coverage – Since the source code or binaries are not available, the ability to traverse code paths is still limited by the tests deduced through available information. The coverage depends on the tester authoring skills.
Defect Identification – Inherent to distributed application is the difficult associated in defect identification. Gray Box testing is still at the mercy of how well systems throw exceptions and how well are these exceptions propagated with a distributed Web Services environment.
Abbreviation
Synonyms
Greybox
Superterms
Subterms
Sources
http://softwaretestingfundamentals.com/gray-box-testing (1.); http://www.crosschecknet.com/soa_testing_black_white_gray_box.php (2.)
Author: Jannis Reißig
