Definition

canary (canary testing)

Part of the Software development glossary:

In software testing, a canary (also called a canary test) is a push of programming code changes to a small number of end users who have not volunteered to test anything. The goal of a canary test is to make sure code changes are transparent and work in a real world environment.

Next Steps

Canary tests, which are often automated, are run after testing in a sandbox environment has been completed. Because the canary is only pushed to a small number of users, its impact is relatively small should the new code prove to be buggy and changes can be reversed quickly.

The word canary was selected to describe the code push because just like canaries that were once used in coal mining to alert miners when toxic gases reached dangerous levels, end users selected for testing are unaware they are being used to provide an early warning.

This was last updated in August 2012
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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