Integration testing is a critical issue in software development, and there are various techniques for addressing it. This paper presents a survey of testing techniques, and a comprehensive overview of the testing of software components—with the specific purpose of integration. The authors begin with an introduction to component development, and its advantages in terms of rapid software development. The difficulty of integrating externally obtained components (the testing of components for their integration is not particularly easy) is pointed out.

The authors neatly discuss the basic concepts of components, component-based development (CBD), and the implementation of components. The development process is explained, along with the testing methodologies for components, including blackbox, greybox, and whitebox testing. Various testing strategies are reviewed. The authors mention the unified modeling language (UML) testing model and specification-based testing approach. The component user and developer certifications and their references are also mentioned.

Various testing approaches, many references, and an appropriate sequence will inspire readers to pursue further research. The paper has a section on technologies that enable component-based development. The authors also discuss component testing methodologies: not only the different types of conventional testing, but also component integration testing. There are various classifications of integration testing, like built-in testing, specification-based testing, and metadata-based testing. For more details and the sources of information, the authors cite numerous references.

The paper offers comprehensive coverage of component development, testing, and implementation strategies. The authors have done commendable work, and the references are an invaluable resource.