Editing Software testing (section)

=== Acceptance testing ===

{{Main|Acceptance testing}}

Acceptance testing is system-level testing to ensure the software meets customer expectations.<ref name="LewisSoftware16-2" /><ref name="BorbaTesting10">{{Cite book |last1=Machado, P. |title=Testing Techniques in Software Engineering |last2=Vincenzi, A. |last3=Maldonado, J.C. |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-642-14334-2 |editor-last=Borba, P. |pages=13–14 |chapter=Chapter 1: Software Testing: An Overview |editor-last2=Cavalcanti, A. |editor-last3=Sampaio, A. |editor-last4=Woodcook, J. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOHrm02GFCEC&pg=PA13}}</ref><ref name="ClappSoftware95">{{Cite book |last1=Clapp, J.A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wAq0rnyiGMEC&pg=PA254 |title=Software Quality Control, Error Analysis, and Testing |last2=Stanten, S.F. |last3=Peng, W.W. |publisher=Nova Data Corporation |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8155-1363-6 |page=254 |display-authors=et al}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=ISTQB CTFL Syllabus 2018 |url=https://istqb-main-web-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/ISTQB-CTFL_Syllabus_2018_v3.1.1.pdf |website=ISTQB - International Software Testing Qualifications Board |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324091506/https://istqb-main-web-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/ISTQB-CTFL_Syllabus_2018_v3.1.1.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-24 |access-date=2022-04-11}}</ref>

Acceptance testing may be performed as part of the hand-off process between any two phases of development.{{Citation needed|date= January 2008}}

Tests are frequently grouped into these levels by where they are performed in the software development process, or by the level of specificity of the test.<ref name=":0" />

* User acceptance testing (UAT)
* Operational acceptance testing (OAT)
* Contractual and regulatory acceptance testing
* Alpha and beta testing

Sometimes, UAT is performed by the customer, in their environment and on their own hardware.

OAT is used to conduct operational readiness (pre-release) of a product, service or system as part of a [[quality management system]]. OAT is a common type of non-functional software testing, used mainly in [[software development]] and [[software maintenance]] projects. This type of testing focuses on the operational readiness of the system to be supported, or to become part of the production environment. Hence, it is also known as operational readiness testing (ORT) or [[operations readiness and assurance]] (OR&A) testing. [[Functional testing]] within OAT is limited to those tests that are required to verify the ''non-functional'' aspects of the system.

In addition, the software testing should ensure that the portability of the system, as well as working as expected, does not also damage or partially corrupt its operating environment or cause other processes within that environment to become inoperative.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woods |first=Anthony J. |date=June 5, 2015 |title=Operational Acceptance – an application of the ISO 29119 Software Testing standard |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/257086897/Operational-Acceptance-Test-White-Paper-2015-Capgemini |access-date=January 9, 2018 |publisher=Capgemini Australia |type=Whitepaper}}</ref>

Contractual acceptance testing is performed based on the contract's acceptance criteria defined during the agreement of the contract, while regulatory acceptance testing is performed based on the relevant regulations to the software product. Both of these two tests can be performed by users or independent testers. Regulation acceptance testing sometimes involves the regulatory agencies auditing the test results.<ref name=":0" />