Quality Code: Software Testing Principles, Practices, and Patterns

Testing

Of all the practices you can leverage to assist your craftsmanship, you will get the most benefit from testing. You may say, “We have been testing software for years, and we still have lots of bugs.” Therein lies the key to going forward.

In a Lean system, you try to prevent defects rather than catch them. The tradition of software testing has been one of catching defects. It should not surprise us, then, that we have an inefficient process. The earlier you test, the sooner you catch defects.

Does that mean you are still just catching defects? If you write the tests after the code, then yes. If you close the gap between creating and catching the defects, less change occurs between the two events. You have a higher likelihood of the context ...