Test Scenario vs Test Case

Difference Between Test Scenario Vs Test Case

In this post, we will see the difference between Test Case and Test Scenario. In most of the interviews you will face this question i.e., Test Scenario Vs Test Case. Here in this post, we will show 10 differences between Test Scenario and Test Case. Both these Test Scenario and Test Case templates come under Test Artifacts. As a tester, these two templates are very useful in Test Design and Test Execution phases of Software Test Life Cycle (STLC).

What is a Test Scenario?

Test Scenario gives the idea of what we have to test. Test Scenario is like a high-level test case.

Test Scenario answers “What to be tested”

Assume that we need to test the functionality of a login page of Gmail application. Test scenario for the Gmail login page functionality as follows:

Test Scenario Example: Verify the login functionality

What is a Test Case?

Test cases are the set of positive and negative executable steps of a test scenario which has a set of pre-conditions, test data, expected result, post-conditions and actual results.

Test Case answers “How to be tested”

Assume that we need to test the functionality of a login page of Gmail application. Test cases for the above login page functionality as follows:

Test Case Examples:

Test Case 1: Enter valid User Name and valid Password Test Case 2: Enter valid User Name and invalid Password Test Case 3: Enter invalid User Name and valid Password Test Case 4: Enter invalid User Name and invalid Password

TEST CASE	TEST SCENARIO
Test case consists of Test case name, Precondition, Test steps, Expected result and Post condition	Test scenario are one liner but it is associated with multiple test cases
Test case guide a user on “how to test”	Test scenario guide a user on “what to test”
Purpose of test case is to validate the test scenario by executing a set of steps	Purpose of test scenario is to test end to end functionality of a software application
Creating test cases is important when working with testers off-site	Creating test scenarios helps you in a time-sensitive situation (especially working in Agile)
Software applications change often. It leads to redesigning the pages and adding new functionalities. It hard to maintain test cases	Test scenarios are easy to maintain due to its high level design
More time consumption compared to test scenarios	Less time consumption compared to test cases
Required more resources to create and execute test cases	Relatively less resources enough to create and test using test scenarios
It helps in exhaustive testing of application	It helps in agile way of testing end to end functionality
Test cases are derived from test scenarios	Test scenarios are derived from use cases
Test cases are low level actions	Test scenarios are high level actions

Note: Using both Test Scenario and Test Cases together will ensure a robust, high coverage testing initiative. Its a best practice to write Test Scenarios and then move on to Test Cases. Even though its a best practice, in today’s Agile era, most of the companies prefer Test Scenarios. Test cases are being replaced with test scenarios in the agile era to save time. Check the below post for detailed explanation on Test Case Template.