Understanding Smoke Testing: Meaning, Examples, and When It\’s Done

Smoke testing refers to a preliminary level of testing that focuses on verifying the most critical aspects of a system to ensure they work correctly. The term originates from hardware testing, where the first time a machine is powered on, a test is run to check for any immediate failures or malfunctions, often with the expectation that if something is wrong, \"smoke\" will appear, signifying a major issue. In software development, smoke testing works similarly. It’s a quick and basic check to see whether the build is stable enough for further testing.