The Verification and Validation are the terms usually used in the context of the software. The verification and validation can be distinguished by the fact that software verification is a process of the checking the design outputs and comparing it with the specified software requirements. On the contrary, software validation is the process of examining the software specifications against the user needs. In a broad way, these activities complete each other and are a part of the Software development.
Content: Verification Vs Validation
Comparison Chart
| Basis for comparison | Verification | Validation |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Process of examining the product in the development phase against the specified requirements. | Includes the evaluation of product against the user requirements at the end of the development. |
| Goal | Ensuring the product development are as per the design and requirement specifications. | Ensures that the developed product is correct and meets up the user's requirement. |
| Involved activities | Plans, requirement specifications, design specification, code, test cases are evaluated. | Software under test is evaluated. |
| Performed by | QA team | Testing team |
| Order of execution | Performed priorly | After verification |
| Cost | Less | More |
Definition of Verification
Verification in the context of software engineering is a group of methods that confirm the precise implementation of the particular functions in the software. It is used to check whether the product is constructed correctly or not. In this phase of the software development process, the bugs and errors are eliminated to assure the reliability.
The Verification process provides the following :
- It provides a prognostic way to analyse the composite design for assuring functionality of the I/O function after the development.
- The accuracy and quality of the design are also verified.
- It checks for the end product against the design, in simple terms, does the product conform the product specifications.
Verification can be performed using various ways such as simulative, hardware emulative and formal methods. Practically the unit and system testing are used for verifying the code of the software. The unit testing verifies whether the code behaviour follows the unit specification or not. When it comes to system testing, the modules are connected together in the sense of testing the complete system. The result of the system testing includes the verification of whether the system satisfies its specification.
Definition of Validation
Validation refers to the set of processes used for assuring the traceability of the software according to the customer requirements. In most of the recent cases, the computer systems do not satisfy the requirement of the user, and this is one of the crucial issues. The validation related problems arise due to the improper communication between the users and the developers and cultural gaps. So, the validation is used to check whether the system fulfils the users need, intentions, acceptance and also ensures the functioning system meet these requirements.
Even if the system works flawlessly, it must serve the essential purpose, that user needs. The validation activity includes acceptance testing which is performed at the end of the project. In this testing, the software is demonstrated to its client if the software complies with the requirements of the client and then it is accepted by the client.
Key Differences Between Verification and Validation
- The verification activity provides the objective confirmation that the design outputs of a particular component satisfy the specified requirement. In contrast, the validation of the software confirms the final software product compliance with user requirement.
- Errors discovered in the verification generate less cost as compared to the associated cost of the errors in the validation process.
- Verification is carried out in the development phase while validation is performed after the product has been developed (i.e., after verification).
- The QA team is responsible for performing verification. Conversely, validation is carried out by the testing team.
Conclusion
Verification is described as a set of activities that guarantees the precise implementation of the particular function in the software. On the other hand, validation is a group of activities which confirms that the developed software complies with the customer requirements.
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