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In computer programming, unit testing is a software verification and validation method in which a programmer tests if individual units of source code are fit for use. A unit is the smallest testable part of an application. In procedural programming a unit may be an individual function or procedure while in object-oriented programming, the smallest unit is usually a class.
Ideally, each test case is independent from the others: substitutes like method stubs, mock objects[1], fakes and test harnesses can be used to assist testing a module in isolation. Unit tests are typically written and run by software developers to ensure that code meets its design and behaves as intended. Its implementation can vary from being very manual (pencil and paper) to being formalized as part of build automation.
The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that the individual parts are correct[2]. A unit test provides a strict, written contract that the piece of code must satisfy. As a result, it affords several benefits. Unit tests find problems early in the development cycle.
Unit testing allows the programmer to refactor code at a later date, and make sure the module still works correctly (i.e. regression testing). The procedure is to write test cases for all functions and methods so that whenever a change causes a fault, it can be quickly identified and fixed.
Readily-available unit tests make it easy for the programmer to check whether a piece of code is still working properly.
In continuous unit testing environments, through the inherent practice of sustained maintenance, unit tests will continue to accurately reflect the intended use of the executable and code in the face of any change. Depending upon established development practices and unit test coverage, up-to-the-second accuracy can be maintained.
Unit testing may reduce uncertainty in the units themselves and can be used in a bottom-up testing style approach. By testing the parts of a program first and then testing the sum of its parts, integration testing becomes much easier.
A programmer who creates an elaborate hierarchy of unit tests might be intending to have achieved integration testing. This result would not be achieved since integration testing evaluates many other objectives that can only be proven through the human factor. Unit testing, which is testing from a perspective of understanding of the implementation of the software, can be combined with integration testing which is testing from the perspective of the system as a whole.
Unit testing provides a sort of living documentation of the system. Developers looking to learn what functionality is provided by a unit and how to use it can look at the unit tests to gain a basic understanding of the unit API.
Unit test cases embody characteristics that are critical to the success of the unit. These characteristics can indicate appropriate/inappropriate use of a unit as well as negative behaviors that are to be trapped by the unit. A unit test case, in and of itself, documents these critical characteristics, although many software development environments do not rely solely upon code to document the product in development.
On the other hand, ordinary narrative documentation is more susceptible to drifting from the implementation of the program and will thus become outdated (e. g. design changes, feature creep, relaxed practices in keeping documents up-to-date).
When software is developed using a test-driven approach, the unit test may take the place of formal design. Each unit test can be seen as a design element specifying classes, methods, and observable behaviour. The following Java example will help illustrate this point.
Here is a test class that specifies a number of elements of the implementation. First, that there must be an interface called Adder, and an implementing class with a zero-argument constructor called AdderImpl. It goes on to assert that the Adder interface should have a method called add, with two integer parameters, which returns another integer. It also specifies the behaviour of this method for a small range of values. |
