Compatibility testing

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Compatibility testing, part of software non-functional tests, is testing conducted on the application to evaluate the application's compatibility with the computing environment. Computing environment may contain some or all of the below mentioned elements:

• Computing capacity of Hardware Platform (IBM 360, HP 9000, etc.)..
• Bandwidth handling capacity of networking hardware
• Compatibility of peripherals (Printer, DVD drive, etc.)
• Operating systems (MVS, UNIX, Windows, etc.)
• Database (Oracle, Sybase, DB2, etc.)
• Other System Software (Web server, networking/ messaging tool, etc.)
• Browser compatibility (Firefox, Netscape, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.)
• Carrier compatibility (Verizon, Sprint, Orange, O2, AirTel, etc.)
• Backwards compatibility.
• Hardware (different phones)
• Different Compilers (compile the code correctly)
• Runs on multiple host/guest Emulators

Certification testing falls within the scope of Compatibility testing. Product Vendors run the complete suite of testing on the newer computing environment to get their application certified for a specific Operating Systems or Databases.