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Software Testing - Syntax Testing

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Software testing not only involves checking the functional and non-functional features of software, but also it verifies the correctness of softwares format, font, grammar etc. The syntax testing is a concept under the black box testing and it is conducted to analyze the grammar, and format of the input data that is fed to the software.

What is Software Syntax Testing?

The syntax testing verifies the grammar, and format of the input data sets that are used in the software either internally or externally. They may be the part of the technical ciphers namely BNF. This type of testing is especially useful to generate test cases which particularly verifies the inputs. It also includes the validation of the code to confirm if they are written as per the programming language syntax, and do not contain inaccurate punctuations and keywords, incorrect usage of brackets etc which can cause unexpected errors like crashes.

The syntax testing involves checking of both the external and internal data sets used in the software with respect to a particular format like the format of the file, schema of database, protocols, and other precise items. Mostly the test cases built on the syntax testing are automated and it involves creation of a large number of test cases.

How to Carry out the Software Syntax Testing?

The software syntax testing is carried out by following the steps listed below −

Step 1 − Identify the language and its format with which the software is to be compared with.

Step 2 − Then the syntax of the language is described as explained in the formal notation. Since every input data set follows a specific syntax that may be either officially defined or undocumented.

Step 3 − The last stage involves validating, and debugging the syntax to confirm that it is uniform, and does not have any flaws. The syntax is generally verified against the below two criterias −

The garbage criteria is the procedure of testing the softwares tolerance with respect to the bad, and filthy data. This criterion is run by feeding inaccurate data sets to the software which do not follow the particular format, and grammar of the syntax.

1. It checks the usual criteria with the help of the various paths of the syntax graphs so that the minimum specifications are satisfied.
2. It checks the garbage criteria with the help of the inaccurate input data sets.

Test Strategies to be Followed for the Software Syntax Testing

The test strategy to be followed for the software syntax testing is to first generate a single error in the input data string at one time without updating any other portion of the string. This needs to be repeated until the entire set of tests for a particular error type has been described. Using the same approach, the entire set of tests for the double error, triple error etc can be determined, and generated. During the complete procedure, the objective should be at one particular level, along with the correctness at the upper, and lower levels.

Advantages of Software Syntax Testing

The advantages of the software syntax testing are listed below −

The software syntax testing detects defects from the early stages of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
The software syntax testing makes the code more maintainable and readable for the developers.
The syntax testing improves the overall performance, and robustness of the software over a period of time.

Disadvantages of Software Syntax Testing

The disadvantages of the software syntax testing are listed below −

The software syntax testing does not cover the standard test cases.
TThe software syntax testing involves creation of the driver to touch upon all the test cases involving the input data sets.
TIt is not easy to detect syntax errors, and if undetected they may cause crashing or other problems in the software.

Conclusion

This concludes our comprehensive take on the tutorial on Software Syntax Testing. Weve started with describing what is software syntax testing, how to carry out the software syntax testing, what are the test strategies to be followed for the software syntax testing, what are the disadvantages of software syntax testing, and what are the advantages of software syntax testing. This equips you with in-depth knowledge of Software Syntax Testing. It is wise to keep practicing what youve learned and exploring others relevant to Software Testing to deepen your understanding and expand your horizons.

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