What Are Some Tips For Performing Unit Testing?

Unit testing plays a pivotal role in improving the efficacy of the code by testing the smallest elements of a code in a strategic and methodical manner. Unit testing can also be automated depending upon the project context and deliver optimal results.

This testing method makes sure that the actual behavior of the individual unit is in line with the expected behavior. In this article, you will get to know about a few key tips for performing unit testing.

Following are six key tips for performing unit testing:

1. Maintain code coverage strategically: Code coverage targets are considered to be useful, but, if there is a time constraint or are working with a legacy codebase, then useful tests can be written through which the most critical parts of the application are targeted.

Test-driven development pushes to have good unit tests for all of your code. But, this doesn’t mean every possible permutation can be covered manually for meeting a coverage target of say 80%.

A middle ground needs to be found out between spending too much time writing unit tests and having no unit tests at all.

2. Tests should be written at an early stage: It is almost impossible to do manual testing by creating a unit test for a large existing codebase with minimal coverage.

If any new project is being initiated, shift left testing can be used and planning can be done so that unit tests can be incorporated before code is written. Tests that are written before you write any code at all is called test-driven development (TTD).

TTD helps in writing lean code that is intended to function as expected. Tests that are robust and accurate can also be easily written.

3. Ease of maintenance plays a key role: Unit tests are known to be effective if they are easy to understand and are able to spot as to what exactly is going wrong. A clear, descriptive name should be picked up for the unit tests that will, in turn, help them in making instantly readable.

The reasoning needs to be backed up by writing comments and adding messages with assertions so that transparency can be maintained.

4. Analyze the test behavior: Once frequent unit tests are being written, those tests can be further improved by analyzing the behavior of the code, rather than just focusing on the implementation part. This kind of scenario is called as Behavior-driven development (BDD).

Rather than focusing on implementation details, the objective is to test what the code should do. It is less likely to change the functional behavior of the code.

5. One test per case can be written: Unit testing basically means that one unit of the code is tested. Too many variables need not be introduced in one unit test or you won’t be able to identify what are the potential issues that may have been missed.

One assert per test will make the process easier and there is a likeliness that the specific test will fail for one reason and hence the issues can be easily identified.

6. The value of automation: When there are thousands of tests in the test suite that needs to be integrated across applications, then automation can prove to be useful.

A specific unit testing framework can be selected and CI/CD tools can be used to identify issues in the earlier stages of the software development life cycle process. At this stage, fixing these issues can save both time and cost to an extent.

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing unit testing for your specific software development project, then do get connected with a premium software testing services company that will provide you specific testing insights along with a methodical testing roadmap in line with your project specific requirements.

About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market savvy technologies.