Smoke testing

A smoke test is a short, high-priority check of essential paths. It answers one question: is this build testable?

Regression testing

Regression testing is broader. It checks whether changes have damaged features that already worked.

When to use each

Run smoke tests immediately after deployment. Run regression testing after the build passes smoke testing and before release.

A practical example

For an online shop, smoke testing might cover login, search and checkout. Regression testing might also cover discounts, refunds, stock and notifications.