Quality Code: Software Testing Principles, Practices, and Patterns

A Conceptual Framework for Testing

For conceptual guidance, I use two principles to guide the overall shape of my testing efforts. First and foremost, I focus on the purpose of the software I am testing. Second, I actively work to reduce the degree of coupling introduced by the tests. Let’s consider purpose now; we will discuss coupling in the next chapter.

The purpose of code applies differently at different levels. At a system level, the purpose of the code is the reason the software exists: its features, requirements, and use cases. Critical evaluation of the purpose helps to constrain your test cases and acceptance criteria. Is it important that a user interface element is a particular color or size or that it is aligned a particular way? ...