Survey and comparative study of functional testing methods

The importance of testing in software development is well documented. Unfortunately, studies of functional testing approaches are not as abundant as the more attractive structural testing approach. This is unfortunate because most testing is functional in nature and because it is impossible to prove the correctness of a program by structural testing alone. This report is a first attempt to rectify this.;A survey of functional testing methods is provided consisting of traditional methods and more research related methods which attempt to improve the bug detection ability of functional testing and increase its level of automation. Several methods are cited that have not been previously discussed together before. A framework for comparing the methods was created by defining important dimensions of testing methods. The methods were then compared based on this framework. This work helps to define the current state of functional testing and identify areas for future research.