What is the difference between sanity testing and regression testing?

by Hruska William Best Software Testing Company In Canada

When it comes to checking the stability factor of a software application, sanity testing is required. Regression testing is performed to check whether the code changes that have been done have not altered or modified the existing functionalities of the software application. Sanity testing is performed to test only specific functionalities of the application, whereas regression testing is performed to test almost all the functionalities of the application. In this article, you will get to know about the differences between sanity testing and regression testing.

What is sanity testing?

Sanity testing is performed on the software build that has been received to ensure that the code changes that have been made are as per the set expectations. The functionality of the application is validated. Sanity testing is performed on a build where there is an immediate requirement of production deployment to fix bugs.

The build will be rejected by the testing team if sanity testing fails. This specific build has to go through the smoke testing process and then the quality assurance team should approve it for further testing. The accuracy of the newly added components and features is validated by this testing method. The sanity test is also considered a narrow regression test because only a few areas of functionality are focused upon. It is a subset of ‘regression testing.’

What is regression testing?

It is performed to verify whether the recent code changes have not modified or altered the existing functionality of the code. It ensures that the code changes that have been made do not impact the existing program features negatively. If any bugs have been introduced in the code changes, then it is fixed at the earliest and the previous bugs that have occurred before the code changes do not arise again through the application of this testing method.

To maintain software, there are certain important activities that need to be carried out, some of which are optimization and deletion of existing features, error corrections, enhancements etc. Due to these modifications, there will be instances where the system may work incorrectly. In this scenario, regression testing comes into perspective. To carry regression testing even more effectively, there are certain techniques involved such as prioritization of test cases, regression test selection and retest all.

Sanity testing vs. Regression testing

Sanity testing	Regression testing
It is performed to check whether the code changes that have been made to the existing build or new functionality is stable or not	It is performed to check whether the specific areas that have been impacted by code change or any functionality change is stable or not
It is a subset of sanity testing	It is an independent testing type
It is executed after smoke testing and before regression testing	It is executed based on the availability of manpower, time and resources and also the project
Only a few functionalities of the software are examined	Mostly all the functionalities of the software are examined
There are no scripts involved	There are scripts involved
Not all the test cases of the product are executed	Almost all the test cases of the product are executed

Conclusion: The above article might have given you some idea about the role sanity testing and regression testing plays in the software development process. If you are looking forward to implementing sanity testing or regression testing for your project-specific needs, then do get connected with a leading software testing services company that will provide you a workable testing strategy that is perfectly in line with your project-specific needs.