What is the difference between critical path and smoke testing?

Critical path is a sequence of test scenarios that verify the most important and frequently used product functionalities "from start to finish," ensuring its operability in typical user scenarios.

Smoke testing is a set of quick tests performed after a product build, aimed at checking the stability of core functions and confirming the possibility of further, more in-depth testing without immediate "blocking" defects.

Main differences:

Aspect	Critical path	Smoke testing
Goal	End-to-end verification of user scenarios	Basic stability and integrity check
Scope	More comprehensive, covers key processes	Fast, superficial
Time	May take more time	Performed quickly
Frequency	Performed regularly, but not with every build	Usually performed on each build
Result	Confirmation of key functions' operability	Confirmation of readiness for further testing