It is necessary to understand that in software testing, there are different aspects by which the process is handled. Unit testing is one of the most prominent processes involved in the whole architecture of software testing.

In this article, we discuss what is unit testing and what are its various stages. After that, we will mainly focus on the various practices that a good software tester must follow to execute a fine unit testing session.

So first, let’s dig into the definition of unit testing and its stages.

A unit testing session verifies every minor functionality and feature of your software. It authenticates the behavior of every element of the software individually. The process of unit testing mainly comprises of 3 parts. They are as follows:

A minor element of the application which is to be tested is initialized. The application under test is generally called System under Test i.e. SUT.

After the first stage of initialization, a stimulus is triggered by the system under test. Generally, it is done by invoking a method that will have the code that is required to test the functionality of the system under test.

After the second stage, the result comes. There is a process of comparison here between the expected result and the actual result. If this comparison is satisfactory, then it can be said that the functionalities of the system are working fine. If not, one needs to diagnose the system in more detail.

Now, let’s have a look at some of the best practices followed by a good software tester while executing unit testing. These are the qualities a newbie in the testing field must follow. Let’s go!

While writing unit tests, it is important to keep in mind that the unit tests are written individually from each other. The arrangement of the cases might vary from person to person. The clusters also can be defined by your own choice. Just note that each test must be orthogonal in a certain way that it must be different from other test cases.

If not, any change in the execution of a certain test case might affect the behavior of the other test cases. That’s why remember; don’t try to add unnecessary assertions.

The assertions must be those that match the specific execution behavior of the software. They must be isolated and executed individually without any dependencies on external factors.

This verifies the addition of zero to a number. In this stage, multiplication functionality assertions should not be covered in this step.

Unit Testing Best practices to be followed while executing Unit Tests:

Unit tests are planned by developers to be executed repeatedly to make sure that there are no errors and minor bugs in the system.

If the time taken to execute these tests is more and the speed is slow, it will consequently increase the execution time of the test cases. Even the speed of one slow test case will have an impact on the overall speed of execution of the test cases.

That’s why, developers must use the best coding methods to lessen the execution time of every test case, which will result in an overall decrease in the execution time.

Using stream concepts in the writing of unit test code is a good practice to increase the execution speed. If not, the whole process becomes exponentially slower.

The readability of any unit test must be very easy and high. The test has to be clear and readable. One must be able to understand the functionality error the test is explaining only by reading it.

It must properly state the scenario that is going under test and if it is failing, it should mention the reasons for the failure in a clear way.

One should be able to know and comprehend the problem in no time and that’s why the design of the test cases must not be complex. To make comprehension easy, they should be well-structured.

A proper name must be given to the test case and its every variable. This name should also include the functionality and the operation that is being tested.

The naming style should not be anything fancy or overly irrelevant. For example, a name like ‘Show logical exception’ won’t work as it doesn’t mean anything specific and is kind of vague.

Just like the designing process of production tests, the process of designing these tests should be intense and careful. The framework used here must be good and qualitative.

Let’s say, the coupling between test code and production code should be low. The dead code must be cleared to gain more test efficiency.

The management of memory should be done well along with the efficiency of time. If you have a good codebase, it will make your maintenance and re-factoring very easy in the subsequent stages.

The unit tests that you are designing must be reliable in design. They should only fail when there is a bug or error present in the system. If they fail on these events, the whole testing process becomes useless.

Sometimes, when you run a test individually, it gets cleared but when ran in the test suite, it fails. Also, many a time, when tests are migrated to a continuous integration server, the tests fail. This is the sign of some design flaws in the system.

A fine unit test must always be independent of external factors like environment or hardware technical base etc.

These were some of the Unit Testing best practices that a software tester must follow to execute reliable and flawless unit tests. A reliable, confident, and efficient work ethic will always lead to optimum output.

Efficiency in the work culture is always promoted at VTEST. It is the basis on which the whole environment of VTEST runs. Using the time and resources most efficiently to gain an output which is both, seamless and improvised is what VTEST stands for.

Work with us and you see the difference yourself.

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About VTEST

VTEST is an independent software testing company catering to product and service teams across the globe. We are a team of software testers who are passionate about quality and love to test. We develop an in-depth understanding of the applications under test and include software testing services strategies that deliver quantifiable results.

In short, we help in building incredible software.