The purpose of the Integration Test Stage is to ensure that the assembly of
the system's components collaborate as intended, as well as that the increment
has the right behavior. The system integrator compiles and links the system in
increments. Each increment needs to go through testing of the functionality that
has been added, as well as all tests the previous builds went through
(regression tests).
Within an iteration, you will execute integration testing several times until
the whole system (as defined by the goal of the iteration) has been successfully
integrated. The output artifact for this activity are the test results.
At the end of an iteration, you should perform tests of the whole system. The
focus in system testing is normally on the interaction between the system and
its actors.
How to Staff
The tester is the main role involved in this discipline detail, however
there is interaction with the implementer and system integrator. Additionally,
if test classes and packages were necessary, there is additional interaction
with these roles.
Work Guidelines
Test execution should be done under a controlled environment. This includes:
a test system that is isolated from non-test influences
the ability to set-up a known initial state for the test system(s) and
return to this state upon the completion of testing (to re-execute tests).