Book Image

Mastering React Test-Driven Development

By : Daniel Irvine
Book Image

Mastering React Test-Driven Development

By: Daniel Irvine

Overview of this book

Many programmers are aware of TDD but struggle to apply it beyond basic examples. This book teaches how to build complex, real-world applications using Test-Driven Development (TDD). It takes a first principles approach to the TDD process using plain Jest and includes test-driving the integration of libraries including React Router, Redux, and Relay (GraphQL). Readers will practice systematic refactoring while building out their own test framework, gaining a deep understanding of TDD tools and techniques. They will learn how to test-drive features such as client- and server-side form validation, data filtering and searching, navigation and user workflow, undo/redo, animation, LocalStorage access, WebSocket communication, and querying GraphQL endpoints. The book covers refactoring codebases to use the React Router and Redux libraries. via TDD. Redux is explored in depth, with reducers, middleware, sagas, and connected React components. The book also covers acceptance testing using Cucumber and Puppeteer. The book is fully up to date with React 16.9 and has in-depth coverage of hooks and the ‘act’ test helper.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: First Principles of TDD
6
Section 2: Building a Single-Page Application
12
Section 3: Interactivity
16
Section 4: Acceptance Testing with BDD

Test-driven development as a testing technique

Is test-driven development a testing technique at all? It's not uncommon to hear the belief that TDD is not about testing; rather, it's about design, behavior, or specification, and the automated tests we have at the end are simply an added bonus.

Yes, TDD is about design, but TDD is certainly about testing, too. TDD practitioners care that their software has a high level of quality, and this is the same thing that all testers care about. That's why we use the term Quality Assurance to describe the role of tester within our teams.

People question the naming of test-driven development because they feel that the notion of 'testing' confuses the actual process. This is often true, and many people struggle with TDD. It's easier to do it badly than it is to do it well. Some often end up missing out tests,...