"Smoke test" is a term that comes from electrical engineering. This refers to a very simple, very simple test in which you simply plug in the device and see if there is smoke.
This does not say anything about whether the device really works. The only thing he tells you is that he is not completely broken.
It is usually used as a step to save time before more thorough regression / integration / acceptance tests, since it makes no sense to run a full testuite if the thing catches fire anyway.
In programming, the term is used in the same sense: it is a very small simple test that checks some simple properties, for example: does the program run? Can he print out his help message? If these simple things do not work, it makes no sense to even try to run a full testuite, which can sometimes take minutes or even hours.
Jörg W Mittag Oct 29 2018-10-29 20:49
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