If an object is hard to test via its public interface, it is going to be hard to use in the production code. The test should only be accessing the class’ public interface. In fact, if you are practicing test-driven development (TDD), the unit test is your first client of the object. Unit tests are clients of the object under test, much like the other classes in the code that are dependent on the object. The short answer is that you shouldn’t test private methods directly, but only their effects on the public methods that call them. Unit Tests Should Only Test Public Methods
#Run private method java reflection how to#
This article in particular is going to focus on a question that commonly comes up when learning how to unit test in object-oriented programming languages whether to test private methods. My goal is to address the common questions and issues that arise when teams start writing unit tests. This article is the first in a series I plan on writing about unit testing. Sandi Metz, Practical Object Oriented Design in Ruby, page 192 Getting good value from tests requires clarity of intention and knowing what, when, and how to test. The solution to the problem of costly tests, however, is not to stop testing but instead to get better at it. She calls this the three-legged stool upon which changeable code rests. In fact it is one of three skills required to build high quality, changeable code according to Sandi Metz: As long as developers persevere and improve at writing unit tests it becomes an incredible tool for developing high quality and maintainable code.
#Run private method java reflection software#
It is important to recognize, like most issues in software development, that the problem isn’t with the tool or practice but with its execution.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, some developers choose to abandon unit testing altogether deciding it is not a tool for them. These kinds of tests slow teams down instead of making them faster. If developers don’t have a solid foundation in writing loosely-coupled code or they are trying to get an existing codebase under test, it is common for them to produce these large and brittle tests. This often goes unnoticed as developers try to learn how to build effective unit tests. These kinds of tests typically expose underlying issues with the code under test. Comments #unit testing #code qualityĭevelopers new to unit testing often end up with large, brittle, and confusing tests.
0 kommentar(er)
