Difference between Test case and Test script?

What is difference between Test case and Test script?

In my opinion, these two terms can be used interchangeable. Yes, I am saying there is no difference. Test case is a sequence of steps that help us perform a certain test on the application. Test script is the same thing.

Now, there is one school of thought that test case is a term used in the manual testing environment and test script is used in an automation environment. This is partly true, because of the comfort level of the testers in the respective fields and also on how the tools refer to the tests (some call test scripts and some call them test cases). So in effect, test script and test case both are steps to be performed on an application to validate its functionality whether manually or through automation.

All About	Test Cases	Test Scenarios
What it is =>	A concept which provides detailed information what to test, steps to be taken and expected result of the same	A concept which provides one-line information about what to test.
It’s about =>	It’s more about documenting details.	It’s more about thinking and discussing details.
Importance =>	It’s important when testing is off shored and development is onsite. Writing test cases with details will help both dev and QA team in sync.	It’s important when time is less and most of the team members can agree / understand the details from one-liner scenario.
Advantage =>	One time documentation of all the test cases is beneficial to track 1000s rounds of regression testing in future. Most of the time, its helpful while bug reporting. Tester just need to give reference of test case ID and does not require mentioning each and every minute detail.	A time saver and idea generation activity, preferred by new generation software testing community. Modification and addition is simple and not specific to a person. For a huge project, where group of people know specific modules only, this activity gives a chance to everyone to look into other modules and brain storm and discuss
Beneficial to =>	A full-proof test case document is a life line for new tester.	Good test coverage can be achieved by dividing application in test scenarios and it reduces repeatability and complexity of product
Disadvantage =>	Time and money consuming as it requires more resources to detail out everything about what to test and how to test	If created by specific person, the reviewer or the other user might not sync the exact idea behind it. Need more discussions and team efforts.

Finally this post should be concluded as:

Test cases are most important part of Software Development Life Cycle and without the one, it’s tough to track, understand, follow and reason out something. But in the era of Agile, test cases are being replaced fast with test scenarios.

A common test checklist for each type of testing (database testing, GUI testing, functionality testing etc) coupled with test scenarios are the modern artillery for Software testers. Discussions, trainings, questions and practice can definitely change the final graph of your productivity as well as Bug report matrix.

About the Author: This awesome post is written by STH author Bhumika Mehta. She is a project lead carrying more than 7 years of software testing experience. She loves to test everything exists, appreciates good ideas, and innovations but hates monotonic work.