Differentiate between Alpha Testing and Beta Testing?

Aplha Testing and Beta Testing are performed as part of User Acceptance Testing(UAT).

The difference between Alpha Testing and Beta Testing  is given in below table:

Alpha Testing	Beta Testing
1. This testing is performed at developer site.	1. This testing is performed at Customer site.
2. It is performed by developers and testers.	2. It is performed by customer.
3. It is virtual environment.	3. It is real time environment.
4. It is performed before beta testing.	4. It is performed after alpha testing.
5. Both black box and white box testing are performed.	5. Only black box testing is performed.
6. Long execution cycles are required.	6. Few weeks of execution.
7. Critical issues can be fixed immediately.	7. Feedback is collected and implemented in future versions.
8. It does not have any other special name.	8. It is also called as Field testing.

 

What is State Testing?

It is also called as Graph based Testing. A software state is a  condition where the software is currently in.

The first step  to perform State Testing  is to  create a State Transition Map.It is a map similar to data flow diagram which represents the various states that the software can be in.

The sample State Transition Diagram for ATM card is as shown in below diagram.

A State Transition Map represents the following:

 -Each unique state of software.

 -Input that takes the software from one state to other.

 -Output produced when state is exited.

To reduce the number of possible large set of test cases into a manageable one follow the steps below:

  - Visit each state atleast once.

  - Test most common paths.

  - Test least common paths.

  - Test random states.

  - Test different error states.