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Re: how to begin with testing?

by moritz (Cardinal)
on Mar 22, 2009 at 19:20 UTC ( [id://752428]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to how to begin with testing?

When I read your title, "how to begin with testing?", my first thought was "begin with simple things", and I'll try to to explain what I mean by that.

Nearly all applications have parts that are very easy to test; even if your application does mostly database work, it might contain a few utility functions that don't access the database; testing them should be an easy start, and not require too much initialization.

In your application this kind of testing is probably not very rewarding; so the next step is to set up a test database, and write a script or module that inserts some fixed dummy data sets. If your tests modify that data, make sure the test database is reset each time before the tests are run.

Then, when you find a bug somewhere in your application, you first extend your dummy data sets so that you can reproduce the bug with the dummy data, and then write tests for it.

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Re^2: how to begin with testing?
by Limbic~Region (Chancellor) on Mar 23, 2009 at 13:20 UTC
    moritz,
    The title doesn't really match what is being asked. A more appropriate title might have been "How to retrofit a test suite to a complex application". From that perspective, I might address the question from a different angle. The rest is meant more for the OP than for you - but it is meant in context of your response.

    What are you hoping to accomplish? Do you have some significant changes coming up and you want to be sure you don't break anything? Do you suspect that over time the application has evolved and you are unsure if all the business requirements are being met? Perhaps you think there is a lot of "dead code" that can be pruned. Do you have the luxury of devoting yourself to this full time or do you need to take a more iterative approach?

    Now that you know what your motivation is, is testing where you need to begin? There is a good chance that, if there is no test suite, then there is likely no or ill defined requirements. Backing into requirements can be as much "fun" as backing into testing. Since there are a myriad of different types of tests you can run (see Software testing), you will at a minimum want to make sure you are meeting your business requirements. If you can, don't look at or even think about your code when documenting these requirements.

    Since this is an existing large and complex application, you can start by writing tests for individual subroutines. Keep your business requirements handy as a checklist. If the subroutine assumes some other function performed correctly, write the test that way too (even if you haven't looked at that code yet). In other words, don't be afraid to write a test that you know or are unsure will fail. The test is the correct behavior so failures will help you find bugs.

    A missing test suite is an indicator of other problems (like lacking requirements). It may be beneficial to read through Re: Refactoring a large script to see if any of those other things apply as well.

    Cheers - L~R

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