Editing Software testing (section)

=== Compatibility testing ===
{{main|Compatibility testing}}

A common cause of software failure (real or perceived) is a lack of its [[Computer compatibility|compatibility]] with other [[application software]], [[operating system]]s (or operating system [[Software versioning|version]]s, old or new), or target environments that differ greatly from the original (such as a [[computer terminal|terminal]] or [[GUI]] application intended to be run on the [[Desktop metaphor|desktop]] now being required to become a [[Web application]], which must render in a [[Web browser]]). For example, in the case of a lack of [[backward compatibility]], this can occur because the programmers develop and test software only on the latest version of the target environment, which not all users may be running. This results in the unintended consequence that the latest work may not function on earlier versions of the target environment, or on older hardware that earlier versions of the target environment were capable of using. Sometimes such issues can be fixed by proactively [[Abstraction (computer science)|abstracting]] operating system functionality into a separate program [[Modular programming|module]] or [[Library (computing)|library]].