Quality Code: Software Testing Principles, Practices, and Patterns

Avoid Test Code in Production

Have you ever seen code like that in Listing 5-3?

Listing 5-3: Example of test code in production

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public class MyClass {  private boolean testing = false;  public void doSomething() {    if (testing) {      // Mock something up    } else {      // Run the real code    }  }}

I’m sure you have. Unfortunately, something like this or one of its variations exists in most code bases. Let’s go over all the things that are wrong with this from a software-verification point of view.

First, how is testing set? I may have omitted a setter that would allow directly controlling the behavior through the interface. That would probably be the safest way to manage it. I’ve also seen people use a toggle ...