November 2002
Intermediate to advanced
240 pages
5h 9m
English
Content preview from Test Driven Development: By Example
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Chapter 27
Testing Patterns
These patterns are more-detailed techniques for writing tests.
Child Test
How do you get a test case running that turns out to be too big? Write a smaller test case that represents the broken part of the bigger test case. Get the smaller test case running. Reintroduce the larger test case.
The red/green/refactor rhythm is so important for continuous success that when you are at risk of losing it, it is worth extra effort to maintain it. This commonly happens to me when I write a test that accidentally requires several changes in order to work. Even ten minutes with a red bar gives me the willies.
When I write a test that is too big, I first try to learn the lesson. Why was it too big? What could I have done differently ...