Properties of Unit Tests

Arne Mertz

⏱ 60 minute session
beginner
intermediate
15:30-16:30, Friday, 5th July 2024

Unit tests are the foundation of the test pyramid. While there is no single precise definition of a "unit" that the name refers to, we can deduce a number of desirable properties of their tests, e.g. from how they are used in the development cycle.

These properties in turn have implications on how we want to design those units under test. This talk will not try to give yet another definition of what is or isn't a unit, but it will try to narrow down our design goals for those mysterious beasts.

Arne Mertz

Arne Mertz has been working with modern and not-so-modern C++ codebases for over 15 years in various kinds of embedded and enterprise contexts. He is a mentor and teacher for clean code and modern C++ for colleagues and customers at Zühlke Engineering. Since 2015 he has written more or less frequently about those topics on his blog "Simplify C++!"