White-Box Testing (Structural)

In white-box, or structural testing, test conditions are designed by examining paths of logic. The tester examines the internal structure of the program or system. Test data is driven by examining the logic of the program or system, without concern for the program or system requirements. The tester knows the internal program structure and logic, just as a car mechanic knows the inner workings of an automobile. Specific examples in this category include basis path analysis, statement coverage, branch coverage, condition coverage, and branch/condition coverage.

An advantage of white-box testing is that it is thorough and focuses on the produced code. Because there is knowledge of the internal structure or logic, errors or deliberate mischief on the part of a programmer has a higher probability of being detected.

One disadvantage of white-box testing is that it does not verify that the specifications are correct; that is, it focuses only on the internal logic and does not verify the conformance of the logic to the specification. Another disadvantage is that there is no way to detect missing paths and data-sensitive errors. For example, if the statement in a program should be coded "if |a—b| < 10" but is coded "if (a—b) < 1," this would not be detectable without specification details. A final disadvantage is that white-box testing cannot execute all possible logic paths through a program because this would entail an astronomically large number of tests.