Unit Testing in Java: How Tests Drive the Code

Book Description

Software testing is indispensable and is one of the most discussed topics in software development today. Many companies address this issue by assigning a dedicated software testing phase towards the end of their development cycle. However, quality cannot be tested into a buggy application. Early and continuous unit testing has been shown to be crucial for high quality software and low defect rates. Yet current books on testing ignore the developer's point of view and give little guidance on how to bring the overwhelming amount of testing theory into practice. Unit Testing in Java represents a practical introduction to unit testing for software developers. It introduces the basic test-first approach and then discusses a large number of special issues and problem cases. The book instructs developers through each step and motivates them to explore further.

*Shows how the discovery and avoidance of software errors is a demanding and creative activity in its own right and can build confidence early in a project.
*Demonstrates how automated tests can detect the unwanted effects of small changes in code within the entire system.
*Discusses how testing works with persistency, concurrency, distribution, and web applications.
*Includes a discussion of testing with C++ and Smalltalk./p>

Reviews From AMAZON.COM

Useful, but not the definitive book on unit testing

This was the second unit testing book that I read after Hunt & Thomas's /Pragmatic Unit Testing/, and it did an admirable job helping me progress beyond the basics. It has especially good overviews of Test-Driven Development, the guts of JUnit, and mock objects. I found it less useful (i.e. less detailed) when it turned to testing J2EE and database functionality. I found J.B. Rainsberger's /JUnit in Action/ a much more authoritative reference. But this book got back on track at the end with its sections on HTML and GUI testing, which fill in a lot of the gaps in Rainsberger's book. In the end, I give both books 4 stars because they complement each other well, although /JUnit in Action/ is, by far, a much better overall reference.

Practical unit test theory and implementation

For a short book like this I'm very impressed with it's breadth of coverage. It stars by covering JUnit and the test first methodology. It then covers testing a variety of types of code, including very notably HTML and GUI code. The last chapter, which is one of it's best is on the importance of unit testing in the entire lifecycle of development. This is an instant classic in the under-covered world of unit testing. A must buy for both QA and Developer alike.