Path Testing and Equivalence Partitioning

                              Path Testing and Equivalence Partitioning

Equivalence partitioning or equivalence class partitioning (ECP)  a software testing technique that divides the input data of a software unit into partitions of equivalent data from which test cases can be derived. In principle, test cases are designed to cover each partition at least once. This technique tries to define test cases that uncover classes of errors, thereby reducing the total number of test cases that must be developed. An advantage of this approach is reduction in the time required for testing software due to lesser number of test cases.

Equivalence partitioning is typically applied to the inputs of a tested component, but may be applied to the outputs in rare cases. The equivalence partitions are usually derived from the requirements specification for input attributes that influence the processing of the test objec

Equivalence Partitioning also called as equivalence class partitioning. It is abbreviated as ECP. It is a software testing technique that divides the input test data of the application under test into each partition at least once of equivalent data from which test cases can be derived.

An advantage of this approach is it reduces the time required for performing testing of a software due to less number of test cases.

The fundamental concept of ECP comes from equivalence class which in turn comes from equivalence relation. A software system is in effect a computable function implemented as an algorithm in some implementation programming language