Skip to main content

Automated Functional Testing Article

It looks like Mr. Sutherland's article on functional testing vs. unit testing has been around for a while, but I just came across it via Hacker News.

Benefits of automated functional testing

My experience with unit tests has been largely ad-hoc, for example when I'm working with a bug-prone chunk of code. I've never been part of a large system with solid unit test coverage or worked in a TDD environment. That being said, I agree with the general premise of Tim's message. As the release manager (by default) on a fairly complex java system, having a number of solid automated functional tests was very valuable to prevent a lot of wasted testing time during busy release weekends. The ROI of creating and maintaining a large set of unit tests seems to be much less.

Comments

Matthew said…
I disagree - my friend makes an excellent point here by making an analogy to real-world practically. http://app.arat.us/blog/?p=159

Unit and functional tests both are critical to a robust testing strategy.

We have been practicing TDD now for a bit in our development and it REALLY speeds things up and really helps keep design concrete.

Popular posts from this blog

Web advertising on coding horror

This post from Jeff Atwood last week is a humorous example of how quickly web advertising can deteriorate to appeal to the lowest-common denominator. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001286.html It would be great if services like Yahoo! Mail would allow me to select the advertisers I'll allow, or specifically block some. Of course, I don't want to pay for this feature.

Cosmic Chickpea & Beef Fiesta Skillet

This is just a little recipe that Grok (x.com) whipped up for me. I asked Grok for a Tex-Mex inspired recipe with ground beef and aligned with a Mediterranean diet. I was completely surprised when I asked for the source website and it said it had created the recipe! This is a revised version with chickpeas instead of quinoa (apparently my family hates quinoa) and with an unhinged, Blue Origin flare added by Grok due to a previous conversation! Cosmic Chickpea & Beef Fiesta Skillet Blast your dinner into another dimension with this Mediterranean-Tex-Mex mashup that’s got more swagger than an all-female space crew! Juicy beef, sassy chickpeas, and veggies that pop like a supernova, all drenched in spices that scream “I AIN’T HERE TO PLAY!” Perfect for when you wanna flex on your kitchen game and make your haters eat stardust. Ready in 35 minutes—faster than a Blue Origin rocket ride! Servings: 4-6 (feeds your squad or leaves epic leftovers) Prep Time: 10 minutes (chop like you’re...