Let's talk about the value of developing a test suite.
It's often a difficult concept to grasp for the laymen involved in building a tech business. Firstly, we need to cover some basics.
What is a Test Suite?
A Test Suite is a collection of various test cases.
These test cases are multiple tasks/functions that are intended to test a software product, functionality or a feature. In other words, it is used for validating an application.
Because of it, some developers refer to this as a Validation Suite.
Many test cases are defined at various stages. Therefore, it all depends on the goal. Test suites are an essential stage in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
What are the Characteristics of a Test Suite?
- Includes several test cases
- Describes the goals and objective of each test case
- Contains various types of tests
- Covers the parameters of the software, e.g., application, environment, version and so on
- Also, it can be used with multiple automation tools
There are two main types.
- Abstract Test Suite
The abstract type is a part of the model-based testing. It includes many abstract test cases. And, the test cases are taken from a high-level model of a System Under Test (SUT).
- Executable Test Suite
The executable type is the second type of test suite. This test provides low-level information that requires the execution of the test suite program. Also, it has a test harness that interfaces the executable suite with the System Under Test (SUT ).
Values In Developing a Test Suite
Reduction of Deployment Risks
If you are following the proper approach with Test-Driven Development, the developers will come up with many unit tests.
Test-driven development (TDD), is an evolutionary approach to development which emphasises test-first development. Here you write a test before you write just enough production code.
For instance, we write the test and then go on to refactor the production code.
The primary goal of TDD is the specification and not validation. (Read more)
With these tests the developers make, the application behaviour will be tested throughout the development phase. Therefore, when a new feature has been implemented, it can be used to test against all the test cases.
So at the end of the development phase, you have a thoroughly tested, ready to go product. This reduces the risk of breaking the application once deployed.
Cutting Down Feedback Loops
As I mentioned above, with the tests the developers make saves a lot of time.
By integrating the TDD approach makes it a robust application.
The tests make you much more likely to catch errors sooner than later. As a result of it, it helps us to tighten the feedback loop.
So with an excellent test suite in place, you’re far less likely to spend excessive amounts of time. Because, tracking down, reproducing, and fixing issues will take a longer time than usual.
Business Friendly and Credibility
If we spend a lot of time in a single project, the development costs increases. In addition, the stakeholders/project owners need to manage the cost. The more time we spend on it, the project cost increases. However, some projects tend to take a longer time.
Also, the application can be broken down into versions. (Read more about versioning)
That is a significant problem, as the development team might be nearly done with the application. In other words, the project will fail.
Therefore, when we follow the TDD approach it reduces the development time exponentially. As a result of it, it increases the credibility of the client.
Automating Tools for a Test Suite.
There are many tools that can make testing quite easy.
are some of the best tools for a mobile/web application.
Conclusion
To conclude this article, it is always a good practice to follow TDD. It might be more work during the development phase, but it sure helps the business and the application tremendously. We at Fonseka Innovations, have completed many projects with this approach and the outcomes of it were exemplary.
If you have trouble with a project or want to make your ideas happen, you can contact us. We have been catering to many happy clients with high stability, performance ROBUST applications.
