Question

How can project scheduling affect integration testing?

Answer 1

The project schedule is the calendar/ sequence of different tasks to be done in the project. A project could be divided into phases like the following: 

1. Requirement analysis 
2. Design 
3. Construction and unit testing 
4. Integration testing 
5. System testing 
6. Acceptance testing 

As you can see above, integration testing i.e. testing to check whether each component of the project is working well with every other component that it interfaces, is after some other phases of the project. Therefore, if there is delay in completing any of the previous phases e.g. design or construction and unit testing, this could delay the beginning of the integration testing phase. Now, due to business requirements, it is possible for the project end date to be fixed. In such a case, project managers sometimes take the decision to reduce the duration of the integration testing and/ or system phases. This way, it is possible for the integration testing phase to be compressed in a shorter duration of time.