Difference Between Boundary Value Analysis And Equivalence Partitioning

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Boundary Value Analysis (BVA) and Equivalence Partitioning (EP) are two techniques for testing software that are used often and are meant to make testing more efficient and effective.

Boundary Value Analysis focuses on testing values at the edges or boundaries of input domains to find problems and potential errors. By choosing test cases that are just inside and just outside these boundaries, BVA hopes to find important boundary handling problems.

Equivalence Partitioning, on the other hand, divides the data into groups, or partitions, and treats each partition as the same. Then, test cases are chosen from each partition to cover a wide range of input values while cutting down on the number of test cases needed.

Both techniques work well together and are often used in Black Box Testing to test how well software works without looking at how it works on the inside. By using BVA and EP, testers can find weaknesses and improve the quality of software products as a whole.

Aspect	Boundary Value Analysis (BVA)	Equivalence Partitioning (EP)
Purpose	Focuses on testing values at input boundaries.	Divides the input data into equivalent partitions.
Technique	Selects test cases at the boundary values.	Selects test cases from each partition.
Input Data	Involves valid and invalid boundary values.	Involves representative values from each partition.
Test Cases	Typically, at least three test cases per boundary.	Typically, one test case per equivalence partition.
Coverage	Provides more exhaustive coverage near boundaries.	Provides broad coverage of input data.
Error Detection	Efficient in finding errors at boundary conditions.	Efficient in detecting errors within partitions.
Complexity	Relatively more complex to design test cases.	Relatively simpler to design test cases.
Implementation Understanding	Requires understanding of boundary values.	Requires knowledge of equivalence classes.
Ideal Use Cases	Useful when boundary behavior is crucial.	Useful when input domain is extensive and diverse.