Phases of Software Testing

Functional testing is itself subdivided into a number of phases. Each phase gradually increases in breadth beginning with verifying small units of system code and widening to validation of the overall system. The environment on which the system is running gradually needs to become more and more akin to the real-world platform on which the final version will sit. 

Testing cycles often include the following phases  

Integration testing - looks at how the system behaves when individual units of code are brought together and allowed to interact. Essentially this is a test of the component interfaces to ensure that information is passed between them as intended. 

Acceptance testing - generally involves the customer in making sure that what has been built is fit for purpose and meets their needs. Often the activity maps to a change in ownership or contractual milestone where the customer validates that 

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