Book Image

Test-Driven Java Development, Second Edition - Second Edition

By : Viktor Farcic, Alex Garcia
Book Image

Test-Driven Java Development, Second Edition - Second Edition

By: Viktor Farcic, Alex Garcia

Overview of this book

Test-driven development (TDD) is a development approach that relies on a test-first procedure that emphasizes writing a test before writing the necessary code, and then refactoring the code to optimize it.The value of performing TDD with Java, one of the longest established programming languages, is to improve the productivity of programmers and the maintainability and performance of code, and develop a deeper understanding of the language and how to employ it effectively. Starting with the basics of TDD and understanding why its adoption is beneficial, this book will take you from the first steps of TDD with Java until you are confident enough to embrace the practice in your day-to-day routine.You'll be guided through setting up tools, frameworks, and the environment you need, and we will dive right into hands-on exercises with the goal of mastering one practice, tool, or framework at a time. You'll learn about the Red-Green-Refactor procedure, how to write unit tests, and how to use them as executable documentation.With this book, you'll also discover how to design simple and easily maintainable code, work with mocks, utilize behavior-driven development, refactor old legacy code, and release a half-finished feature to production with feature toggles.You will finish this book with a deep understanding of the test-driven development methodology and the confidence to apply it to application programming with Java.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Title Page
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
9
Refactoring Legacy Code – Making It Young Again
Index

Unit testing with TDD


What is the difference in the way we write unit tests in the context of TDD? The major differentiator is in when. While traditionally unit tests are written after the implementation code is done, in TDD we write tests before—the order of things is inverted. Without TDD, the purpose of unit tests is to validate an existing code. TDD teaches us that unit tests should drive our development and design. They should define the behavior of the smallest possible unit. They are micro-requirements pending development. A test tells you what to do next and when you're done doing it. Depending on the type of tests (unit, functional, integration, and so on), the scope of what should be done next differs. In the case of TDD with unit tests, this scope is the smallest possible, meaning a method or, more often, a part of it. Moreover, with TDD driven by unit tests, we are forced to comply to some design principles, such as keep it simple, stupid (KISS). By writing simple tests with...