What is the main goal of fuzzing in software testing?

• A. To identify performance bottlenecks.
• B. To verify compliance with standards.
• C. To determine how a program handles valid inputs.
• D. To determine how a program handles unexpected inputs.

Answer: (D)

Fuzzing is about exploring how software behaves when it receives inputs that are unexpected, malformed, or random rather than well-formed or typical. The goal is to provoke failures—such as crashes, hangs, or security vulnerabilities—so developers can locate and fix robustness issues before users encounter them. This approach focuses on boundary cases, invalid formats, and unusual sequences of data that normal test cases might miss. By mutating inputs and watching for abnormal behavior, fuzzing helps reveal how code handles unexpected situations, which is essential for building secure and stable software.