Testing ASP.NET Web Applications

1.5. Why Should I Learn about Testing?

You're reading a book about testing for the web, so you're heading in the correct direction.

1.5.1. For Developers

Developers tend to be busy people, what with new technology trends emerging and customers constantly demanding new features. At times, developing software is a very stressful profession. Worrying if the new feature you added this morning is going to break existing functionality should not be something developers are spending time thinking about. Having a test suite that spans from unit tests to customer acceptance tests will help a developer sleep better at night, at peace in the knowledge that the software is functioning as designed.

A well-written test suite will provide the proverbial safety net. With this safety net in place developers are more willing to refactor (changing the internal structure of how code works without modifying its external behavior or functionality) sections of code, experiment more often when getting ready to add more functionality into a system, and be more Agile. The end result is an improved code base and fewer areas within your code base that you are scared to make changes to.

One aspect of unit testing that new developers to automated testing often overlook is the fact that testable code in most circumstances is also well-designed code. Design patterns such as Inversion of Control (IoC), and simple development concepts such as Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY), together with a strict separation of concerns ...