Acceptance test

An acceptance test in software engineering is a test that users performs on a software product through black-box testing (e.g. ther user does not know anything about the internal working of the system).

In testing the system and, based on the results, either granting or refusing acceptance of the Software/system being tested. It is often referred to as functional testing , beta testing , QA Testing , application testing , or end user testing . It is also sometimes split into factory acceptance testing and site acceptance testing , the first being run in-house, the second at the customer s site.

Acceptance tests generally take the form of a series or suite of tests designed to be run on the final system. Each test has a boolean output - pass or fail. There is generally no degree of success or failure. The test environment is usually designed to be identical or as close as possible to the anticipated installation environment. These tests are accompanied by the relevant input data and the expected output data. The tests are run against the supplied input data and the actual output is compared to the expected output. If the two match, the tests pass. If they do not, the system may either be rejected or accepted on condition that failed tests are re-run against a modified system at a later date (usually before final delivery).

The objective is to provide confidence that the delivered system meets the business requirements. The acceptance phase also acts as a final quality gateway, where any defects not detected in System Test may be picked up.

The purpose of acceptance tests being executed by business users is that once complete, and provided certain acceptance criteria are met the end user will then sign off the system.