Developer Testing

To build high-quality software, you need to write testable code. That's harder than it seems: it requires insights drawn from arenas ranging from software craftsmanship to unit testing, refactoring to test-driven development. Most programming books either discuss testing only briefly, or drill down on just one or two techniques, with little guidance on how to systematically verify code. Most testing books, on the other hand, focus on a specific testing process, without showing how to write software that can be easily and systematically tested. In Developer Testing, leading software engineering consultant Alexander Tarnowski strikes an optimal balance, integrating insights from multiple disciplines to help frustrated practitioners get better results.

Drawing on his extensive experience as a mentor and trainer, he offers insights that help you accelerate through the typical software assurance learning curve, so you can progress far more rapidly.

Tarnowski organizes his insights into "chunks" to help you quickly absorb key concepts, and focuses on technology-agnostic approaches you can keep using with any new language, platform, or toolset. Along the way, he answers many questions development teams often ask about testing, including:

• What makes code testable? What makes it hard to test?
• When have I done enough testing on a piece of code?
• How many unit tests do I need to write?
• Exactly what should my test verify?
• How do I transform monolithic legacy code into manageable pieces I can test?
• What's the best way to structure my tests?

The first guide to cover testing mindset, techniques, and applications from the developer's perspective, Developer Testing will help developers get what they really want: better code.