Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing

Difference Between Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing

The following article provides an outline for Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing. Smoke Testing is performed right before beginning a deeper functional testing process in order to avoid any blockage like environment readiness, application accessibility, database availability, etc. On the other hand, Sanity Testing is performed to test the minor fixes on the application and to make sure the application is good & running with all the vital functionalities up for perfection. Sanity Testing is not necessarily included in all the testing life cycles, while smoke testing is obligatory for applications involving several system features, integration flow, multiple environment testing, etc.

Types of Smoke Testing

Below are the different types of testing, which are as follows:

• Formal Smoke Testing: Under the formal smoke testing, the developer provides the build to the test engineer. Here the test engineer assigns one tester to every feature of the build and is asked to perform the smoke test. The test leader then analyses all the test results of the build and reports the developer’s end result. These procedures are done officially through proper email chains, hence the name Formal Smoke Testing.
• Informal Smoke Testing: Under this testing method, smoke testing is performed on the build. However, the test engineers do not make a report of it and are not communicated with the lead test engineer.
• Sanity Testing: This is a software technology used to test some basic tests on the application. This subset of regression testing is normally performed when one has enough time to check the features. This method is normally used to check whether all the menus, commands or other functionalities available are the projects is working fine or not.

Head to Head Comparison Between Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing (Infographics)

Below are the top 6 differences between Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing:

Key Differences Between Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing

Both Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing are popular choices in the market.

• In smoke testing, only the basic and critical features are tested.
• Doing smoke testing helps one to expose the integration and other major problems beforehand or early in the test cycle.
• Smoke testing also helps us to Covering most of the major functions, the smoke test helps in a quick test of the software. However, it does not conduct an in-depth test of these programs.
• It can also be said that smoke testing is a kind of general health check conducted for the programs.
• Sanity testing is a sub-regression.
• It is usually performed for those builds (programs) which has already been tested, and a minor change in the code has occurred.
• Hence, Sanity testing is the process of doing intensive testing of any functionality given in a program.
• Another fact that differentiates Sanity testing from Smoke testing is that it is usually done for mature builds or the builds that are entering into the market or will hit the production.
• Sanity tests are performed on those programs which have been already removed from the testing process.
• Like Smoke testing, if any of the programs fail the sanity tests, these programs are sent back to the developer to fix the build.

Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing Comparison Table

Below is the 6 topmost comparison between Smoke Testing vs Sanity Testing

Smoke Testing	Sanity Testing
Smoke testing helps in determining if further rigorous testing is needed or not and hence saves time.	Sanity testing is only conducted if there is enough time. It is mainly used to check the functionality of a program once minor edits are done.
Smoke testing mainly includes testing of all the major parts though not deeply.	Mainly focusing on narrow testing, in Sanity, testing only checks a few areas of functionality.
It ensures whether the most crucial functions are working properly or not. However, this test does not bother finding the fine details.	This test is performed to check or prove that the application is functioning, considering all its specifications.
In smoke testing, the testing is done automatically through a written set of programs. It is scripted.	Sanity testing, on the other hand, is unscripted.
Smoke testing includes high-level testing of important features.	Sanity testing includes deep and narrow testing of important features.
Smoke testing helps in uncovering problems early.	Sanity testing can only be conducted once the defect is found.

Conclusion

After having an insight into Smoke vs Sanity testing, finally, it’s time to wrap up this discussion by highlighting the key elements of this post. You can briefly understand why these two techniques are so unique in nature and stand out to be the most useful components in software testing. While Smoke testing is a faster and cheaper approach to detect errors, it also saves precious time. It’s always implemented at the initial stages of software engineering as it is the final step before a software build enters the next stage. As per the organization’s requirement, smoke testing is done manually and through automation, which ultimately enhances the application’s quality. On the other side, Sanity is also called surface-level testing, offers a rapid-fire status about the release and planning; the next stage is why Sanity testing is a preferred choice. As a subset of acceptance testing, it readily helps to save time and costs involved in the testing procedure if the build fails. So, while Smoke and Sanity testing have similarities, the final say is that they have certain key differences that set them apart.

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