A Testing to ensure compatibility of an application or Web site with different browsers, OS and hardware platforms. Different versions, configurations, display resolutions, and Internet connect speeds all can impact the behavior of the product and introduce costly and embarrassing bugs. We test for compatibility using real test environments. That is testing how will the system performs in the particular software, hardware or network environment. Compatibility testing can be performed manually or can be driven by an automated functional or regression test suite.
The purpose of compatibility testing is to reveal issues related to the product's interaction with other software as well as hardware. The product compatibility is evaluated by first identifying the hardware/software/browser components that the product is designed to support. Then a hardware/software/browser matrix is designed that indicates the configurations on which the product will be tested. Then, with input from the client, a testing script is designed that will be sufficient to evaluate compatibility between the product and the hardware/software/browser matrix. Finally, the script is executed against the matrix, and any anomalies are investigated to determine exactly where the incompatibility lies.
Some typical compatibility tests include testing your application:
- On various client hardware configurations
- Using different memory sizes and hard drive space
- On various Operating Systems
- In different network environments
- With different printers and peripherals (i.e. zip drives, USB's, etc.)
