Dry Run (testing)

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

Look up Dry Run (testing) in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Software Testing portal

A Dry Run is a testing process where the effects of a possible failure are intentionally mitigated. For example, an aerospace company may conduct a 'dry run' of a takeoff using a new aircraft on a runway before the first test flight.

In computer programming, a dry run is a mental run of a computer program, where the computer programmer examines the source code one step at a time and determines what it will do when run. In theoretical computer science, a dry run is a mental run of an algorithm, sometimes expressed in pseudocode, where the computer scientist examines the algorithm's procedures one step at a time. In both uses, the dry run is frequently assisted by a table (on a computer screen or on paper) with the program or algorithm's variables on the top.

The usage of "dry run" in acceptance procedures (for example in the so called FAT = Factory Acceptance Procedure) is meant as following: the factory (which is a subcontractor) must perform a complete test of the system it has to deliver before the actual acceptance from the contractor side.

[edit] External links

• World Wide Words: Dry Run

This industry-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

 This computer programming-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

The term Dry run was primarily used by scientific researchers. This was usually carried out after completion of the design.