When you wrote some code, did you know it would be broken but didn’t test it because you were all too busy? A bug showed up in production at some point, and it took hours to find.
Don’t worry! We’ve all been there. Don’t be hard on yourself, though. Unit tests are important for developers because they help them get more done. We’ll talk about how they work and why they’re important.
Why is it important to do unit tests?
Unit testing is a way to make sure that all of your code works the way it was meant to by checking small pieces of code one at a time. This is only one critical stage in the process of automating tests. Before you spend hours creating something fresh and cool, make sure your code works properly. There’s no point in spending hours repairing something that is already damaged.
Unit tests are an important part of Development
It’s been clear that unit tests are an important part of development, but they’re not the only part. During development, you should use unit tests to make sure that your pieces of code are working right. Still, they shouldn’t be used instead of human testing, integration testing, or any other kind of testing.
A unit test sees if a part of the computer can work on its own, without the help of other parts. Unit tests let us check each and every little piece of our code to make sure it works right.
Testing by Unit vs. Testing by Integration
Unit Testing and Integration Testing are not the same thing
Integration tests make sure that all the parts are properly put together and work as they should. They are run after functional testing but before unit testing. Each module is tried on its own to make sure it works. Integration tests, on the other hand, make sure that modules work with each other so that the whole program works the way it should.
The different parts of a system should be able to fit together like a puzzle in real life. Integration tests check this. The integration tests make sure that the different parts of your program can work together properly. Usually, they need things from outside sources, like web sites or databases.
Between unit testing and integration testing there is a thin line. It can be hard to tell which one you are running at times. You have already moved past the unit testing phase, though, if you need outside tools to test your code. This means that your testing method is not correct.
How Do You Write a Good Unit Test?
It doesn’t matter if you’re making a mobile game or something else—a good unit test needs to have these things:
Easy to Write
To make sure their code works right, developers write a lot of tests. That means they shouldn’t have to work too hard to code all those test processes.
Clear What the Unit Test Is For
A unit test should be easy to read. The purpose of a good unit test is to describe how our program works. That being said, it should be clear what situation you are testing and what to do if it doesn’t work.
Unit tests should only fail if there is a bug in the code. It’s clear, right? But it can be hard for programmers when their tests fail, even if no bugs were introduced. That’s why good unit tests should be able to be run again and again, no matter what the setting is like or the order in which they are run.
Fast
Unit tests are written by developers so they can try their code over and over again. Coders are more likely to skip them if they take too long. It won’t make a big difference if you take one slow test. If you add one thousand more, we’ll have to wait for a while. We definitely don’t want that to happen.
Don’t forget that we need to make sure we’re running a unit test and not an integration test. It’s been talked about before that a unit test and the system being tested shouldn’t access the network, databases, file system, etc., so that outside factors don’t affect the results.
What ways does unit testing help?
Unit tests make code better in a few different ways. In the end, they help you write better code. Code that can be tested is usually better and more reliable. Other people can better understand what we did and how it works. Unit tests also give us peace of mind that our code will still work if the project gets bigger or if we decide to change something later on.
Not having enough tests before adding a feature using production code is one of the most common mistakes people make when they are writing software. If your team doesn’t have enough time or resources during sprints, unit tests will help them get things done quickly while still making sure the whole product suite meets high quality standards! They speed up the process of writing code.
Feel more confident when you code
When you change or add to your codebase, unit tests give you more trust. You already know that unit tests will keep bugs from showing up.
You can make modifications without fear of breaking something. It is easier to make modifications. If the code doesn’t work after you make a change, it’s most likely due to a flaw in your logic, rather than a minor error introduced by another team member or an update to an external tool. You can access your codebase with confidence knowing that it was properly tested before being added to the main codebase.
Conclusion
To summarize, unit testing is an essential component of any developer’s workflow. When you utilize unit tests, the quality of your code increases. That makes it simple to make modifications to your codebase because you know the test suite will detect any new flaws. Unit tests can help writers feel confident in their work when they add new features or fix errors. It means less stress and more work is completed! Do not forget that writing unit tests takes time. If you don’t have much time, you should understand which areas of your code require the most testing.