4 ms·

> "Unit Tests are like pouring concrete on your code base." My experience is the exact opposite. Tests make me feel safe to perform code changes a bit more agg

> "Unit Tests are like pouring concrete on your code base." My experience is the exact opposite. Tests make me feel safe to perform code changes a bit more aggressively than simple refactors. If behavior coverage is slow, I spend more time double checking I'm not breaking stuff along the way. Sometimes changing implementation will mean changing tests too which might seem to be defeating the point, but this is because the test isn't good yet so it's an opportunity to improve the test and stop leaking implementation details. To me, it pays off handsomely in the long run.

legulere 6y ago
If you have real unit tests then refactoring code also means refactoring unit tests, as they just test small units like functions in isolation. When refactoring you will need to replace units or delete them to be able to change units that are higher up in the abstraction. You may end up testing a lot of implementation details and keep them from changing. If you only write tests of the higher abstracted units while also using the lower abstraction ones, you are not really doing unit testing anymore but what some people call integration testing. In my opinion they both have their place. Most of the code we write is relatively throw-away code that will be used in one project/occasion and is prone to be changed because of changing requirements. You should test your requirements and functionality with integration tests, unit tests will cost too much time and will stand in your way. In rare cases we write code that is really reusable in a bigger scope and acts like a foundation set in stone that rarely changes and is widely reused. In general you should put way more effort in those and also use unit tests there.
- villasv 6y ago
  I guess what you consider unit testing I consider useless testing, what you call integration testing I call unit testing, and maybe what I call integration testing you would consider end-to-end testing?

legulere 6y ago

If you have real unit tests then refactoring code also means refactoring unit tests, as they just test small units like functions in isolation. When refactoring you will need to replace units or delete them to be able to change units that are higher up in the abstraction. You may end up testing a lot of implementation details and keep them from changing. If you only write tests of the higher abstracted units while also using the lower abstraction ones, you are not really doing unit testing anymore but what some people call integration testing. In my opinion they both have their place. Most of the code we write is relatively throw-away code that will be used in one project/occasion and is prone to be changed because of changing requirements. You should test your requirements and functionality with integration tests, unit tests will cost too much time and will stand in your way. In rare cases we write code that is really reusable in a bigger scope and acts like a foundation set in stone that rarely changes and is widely reused. In general you should put way more effort in those and also use unit tests there.

villasv 6y ago
I guess what you consider unit testing I consider useless testing, what you call integration testing I call unit testing, and maybe what I call integration testing you would consider end-to-end testing?