For what purpose is maintenance testing primarily used?

Maintenance testing is primarily focused on assessing modifications made to an existing operational system to ensure that these changes do not adversely affect the system’s performance, functionality, and reliability. This includes planned enhancements which can involve adding new features, improving performance, or updating the system to meet new requirements.

When maintenance testing occurs after the system is in operation, it aims to validate that any updates or corrections applied successfully resolve issues without introducing new problems. This testing plays a critical role in maintaining software quality over time and ensuring systems continue to meet user needs and expectations.

The other options represent different aspects of testing but do not specifically relate to the goals of maintenance testing. For example, correction of defects during the development phase pertains to testing earlier in the software lifecycle, complaints during user acceptance testing address end-user satisfaction and system approval, while integrating functions during the development of a new system involves testing new functionalities rather than maintaining an existing system.