What is the primary purpose of 'integration testing'?

The primary purpose of integration testing is to ensure that the integrated units or modules of a software application work together as intended. This stage of testing follows unit testing, where individual components are tested in isolation. Integration testing focuses on the interactions between these components to identify any issues that might arise when they are combined. It checks for data flow, communication, and overall behavior across different modules, ensuring they collaborate seamlessly to deliver the expected functionality.

Understanding the significance of integration testing is crucial because even if individual components function correctly, they might encounter problems when they interact with one another. This ensures that the software performs cohesively as expected in a complete system environment, thus validating the overall design and architecture before moving on to further stages of testing.