What is software testing terminology?

Software testing terminology is the standard vocabulary QA and engineering teams use to describe test levels, test types, defects, process artifacts, and quality metrics. A shared vocabulary matters because words such as severity, priority, verification, and validation carry precise and separate meanings, and using them loosely produces defect reports and test plans that different readers interpret differently.

What is the difference between verification and validation?

Verification asks whether the software was built correctly against its specification, and is usually done through reviews, inspections, and static analysis before code runs. Validation asks whether the correct software was built for the user, and is done by executing the system against real requirements. A product can pass verification completely and still fail validation if the specification itself was wrong.

What is the difference between severity and priority?

Severity measures the technical impact of a defect on the system, and priority measures how soon it should be fixed relative to other work. The two are set independently: a spelling error in a company logo is low severity and high priority, while a crash in a feature nobody uses yet can be high severity and low priority.

What is the difference between a test case and a test scenario?

A test scenario states what will be tested at a high level, such as verifying the checkout flow. A test case states the specific steps, input data, preconditions, and expected result needed to check one condition inside that scenario. One scenario usually breaks down into several test cases.

What is the difference between smoke testing and sanity testing?

Smoke testing is a shallow, wide check that confirms a build is stable enough to test at all, covering the main paths without depth. Sanity testing is a narrow, deeper check performed after a specific fix or change, confirming that the affected area now behaves correctly.

What are the newer AI-related software testing terms?

The AI-era additions to testing vocabulary include agentic testing, AI agent testing, intent-based testing, LLM evaluation, retrieval-augmented generation testing, hallucination, context engineering, the Model Context Protocol, self-healing test automation, and verification-driven development. They describe both testing performed by autonomous agents and testing applied to systems that contain models.

What is the difference between AI testing and AI model testing?

AI testing refers to using machine learning or large language models inside the testing process, for example to generate cases, resolve elements at runtime, or triage failures. AI model testing refers to evaluating a trained model itself for accuracy, bias, drift, and robustness. The first is a method, the second is a subject.

Why can conventional assertions not be used to test LLM applications?

A conventional assertion compares output to one stored expected value. A large language model can answer the same question two different ways and be correct both times, so equality comparison reports false failures. LLM applications are evaluated by scoring output against criteria such as groundedness, relevance, and safety instead of matching it to a fixed string.

What is a flaky test and what is a quarantine test?

A flaky test passes and fails against unchanged code, usually because of timing, shared state, test order, or environment variance. A quarantine test is a flaky test deliberately moved out of the blocking suite so it still runs and reports without failing the build, held there under a named owner with a date by which it is fixed or deleted.

How many software testing terms should a QA engineer know?

There is no fixed number, and memorising definitions has limited value. What matters is fluency in the terms your own team uses in its test plans, defect workflow, and release gates, plus the vocabulary of whatever methodology you follow. This guide covers more than 275 terms so that unfamiliar vocabulary in a specification or a tool's documentation can be looked up in context.

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Software Testing Terminology: 100+ QA Terms Defined

Testing

Software Testing Terminology: 100+ QA Terms Defined

Enhance your professional vocabulary with our software testing terminology guide and learn the basic definitions of software testing and quality assurance.

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Salman Khan

Author

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Harshit Paul

Reviewer

Last Updated on: September 1, 2026

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