For those of you, who haven’t heard of unit testing, it is all about testing particular parts of the software program or app. The significant motive behind it is to properly check that all the individual parts are functioning the way they should. A unit is the tiniest part of the software to be tested. Most of the time, it has a bunch of inputs and one output.
Different Types Of Unit Testing
The most important aim of unit testing is to make sure that every single part works in the right way. The whole system will function properly if the individual parts function well. The software developers perform it on their own. At times, it is also performed by independent software testers.
There are 2 main varieties of unit testing:
Manual Testing and Automated Testing. The automated method is mostly chosen because of its speed and accuracy. Performing this task manually is just an option. The manual option has a stepwise instruction process helping testers perform the task easily. The automated unit testing is mostly about the developer initially writing down a part of the code in the app so that the function can be easily tested.
After that, they do away with the test code as soon as the app gets deployed. They might also separate the function for testing it in full detail. This allows for recognizing the existing dependency between the tested code and the rest of the data spaces. You can easily do away with these dependencies.
The Unit Testing Process In Detail
The unit testing workflow in software testing makes use of this framework:
- Constructing the test cases
- Review or recheck
- The Baseline
- Implementing Test Cases
Unit Test Cases should remain independent. In case you wish to introduce alterations. They can be made without affecting the others. Just a single piece of code must get tested at one point in time, and there must be proper naming conventions for each to keep the process clear and easy. If you find any new bugs on the way, you must fix them before moving on to the next level. The entire unit testing process can be either simple or complicated, based on the app you are using. It also depends on the test strategies being used by the developers and independent testers.
What are the biggest benefits of Unit Testing?
Makes the Process Agile
This is the biggest advantage of unit testing. Whenever you add new features to the software, you should alter the old design or code, which turns out to be costly and dangerous. You save your precious time using the unit testing method, and the procedure becomes fast and easy.
Code Quality
Unit Testing enhances the code quality to a huge extent. It allows developers to recognize the tiniest loopholes present in the units before integrating testing.
Easily Detects Software Bugs
Unit Testing recognizes all sorts of issues in the software at an early stage. Software developers can then begin working on those issues before moving ahead. The basic benefit of this is that no other portion of the software gets affected if the issues get fixed at an early stage. This increases the efficiency, lessens the downtime and lowers the prices that would normally be sky-high.
Easily Introduces Changes
Refactoring the code and updating the system library becomes 10 times easy when every software component gets tested individually. If the problems are found early, introducing changes to the system becomes simple. Before moving on to the next level, the accuracy of each unit is carefully checked. It signifies that the unit is in the right working order before combining with other modules.
Helps Create A Proper Documentation
Unit Testing looks after the documentation of the whole system. Developers who wish to know in detail about the functionality of a particular program or app can find out about the system by thoroughly going through the documentation of every individual module. It also helps them gain a detailed understanding of the system and what every single component would do.
The Debugging Procedure
The entire debugging procedure can be made easy to a huge extent with the help of unit testing. If a particular test fails, the most recent changes made to the code must be debugged.
Unique Designs
Unit Testing helps Software Developers visualize the software design and understand what needs to be done before writing down the code in all top-rated software testing companies. This will help them remain focused and create amazing designs. Testing a code at the right time will make it easy for you to explain what it is responsible for.
Brings Down The Costs
Troubles and bugs in the system are recognized in the initial stages with the help of unit testing. This brings down the prices of bug fixing to a huge extent. If the bugs are discovered late, it would be costly to handle them.
Examples Of Unit Tests
There are plenty of unit testing examples to help you out. One of them is building mock objects to test parts of the code that aren’t part of a whole app. These objects complete the missing portions of the program. You might possess a function requiring variables and objects that were not yet made. In the case of unit testing, these objects will be accounted for in the shape of mock objects, entirely built for unit testing performed on that part of code.
Did you know that unit testing in python is becoming increasingly popular nowadays? We’ll learn about how to use python for unit testing in another blog.
Concluding Words
The importance of unit testing cannot be decreased. It’s vital. Hence its absence causes major problems and can hugely impact the program performance.
Unit Testing makes sure that every unit performs the way it should and also in the developmental stage. To get 100% excellent software performance, it needs to be implemented at the right time.
It’s hard to find a trustworthy testing provider who can easily manage the testing phase. HikeQA, a top-rated software testing company, is an expert in testing across all significant industries. Our qualified professionals with many years of experience can help you through.
Another blog on our website explains the difference between unit testing and integration testing. Let’s check it out!
