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

Different specifications


We have already mentioned that one of the benefits of TDD is executable documentation that is always up to date. However, documentation obtained through unit tests is often not enough. When working at such a low-level, we get insights into details; however, it is all too easy to miss the big picture. If, for example, you were to inspect specifications that we created for the Tic-Tac-Toe game, you might easily miss the point of the application. You would understand what each unit does and how it interoperates with other units, but would have a hard time grasping the idea behind it. To be precise, you would understand that unit X does Y and communicates with Z; however, the functional documentation and the idea behind it would be, at best, hard to find.

The same can be said for development. Before we start working on specifications in the form of unit tests, we need to get a bigger picture. Throughout this book, you were presented with requirements that we used for...