What is black-box testing?
Black-box testing checks software behaviour through its inputs and outputs, without knowledge of its internal code.
The tester treats the system as a closed box and tests it as a user or client would. Techniques include equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis and decision tables.
End-to-end, API and acceptance tests are typically black-box. They are resilient to internal refactoring because they only depend on observable behaviour.
Example
A tester checks an age field with values 17, 18, 65 and 66 to test the boundaries of an 18 to 65 eligibility rule, without reading the code.
Best practices
- Use boundary values and equivalence classes
- Test from the user or client perspective
- Combine with white-box tests for complex logic
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