How do we approach API test planning? We usually look at the API and what it does, and check it’s functionality, along with a few more APIs. And we consider the API testing done. But we miss out on what we can really test. Our goal is to report on Read more…
Design patterns are very useful. They help us create readable and maintainable code. But there’s only one pattern that has gone on to garner infamy. Some people might call using it a moral failure: The evil Singleton. So how much damage must one pattern do to win that title? Since Read more…
Every unit testing example starts with a calculator, so let’s do that today. Have a look at this code. Suspicious eh? Okay, so how many tests do you think we need to cover this code? “Cover” is pretty vague. How many as in “enough tests that you feel comfortable leaving Read more…
Whenever I ask people (and I really don’t get tired of asking), what is CI, or Continuous Integration, I get Jenkins. Or TFS. Or another tool. And this is a teachable moment! CI is not a tool. These tools are great, don’t get me wrong, but listen to the words. Read more…
We all know about clean code (I’m assuming). Clean code is great! Clean tests are great, too. Here’s the truth about it. We don’t really want clean code. But we do need it. If we would write code once, and never need to look at it again, we could write Read more…
It doesn’t matter, if we’re doing it in once a quarter, or for a two-week sprint – test planning is crucial. But if you start by jumping into specific testing scenarios, I promise you, it’s going to bite you in the end. Even earlier. Effective planning starts with a Top-level Read more…
Did you know that September 9th is Tester’s day? Apparently, the first bug was found on 9/9/1947. Note that we’ve been writing programs before that. So if that’s the first time a bug was found, I’d say it’s a bit late. They should have done some exploratory testing around the Read more…
If you’ve been through some kind of an agile transformation you’ve probably heard of the “Definition of done”. Now, let’s talk about that, since we all have a dictionary. I mean, should we define words that we learned when we were kids? Apparently we have to. Anyway. There are all Read more…
Let’s talk about the testing pyramid. And since it’s a pyramid, I’ll also throw in a tip (see what I did there?) You may have seen the test pyramid with different steps,or levels, in it.It used to be called the “Automatic test pyramid”, but you might have seen it with Read more…
Data-driven tests are like the early promise of Java: Write once, run many. With some side effects. Just like Java. Here’s a very VERY simple example. This is an API for authentication: Without looking at the code behind it, you probably think it’s a good idea to test this API. Read more…