Introduction¶

Estimated time to read: 1 minute

Testing, in software development, is meant to ensure that software works as designed. Nowadays, we should distinguish between software tests that can be automated and such that can't (e.g. usability tests). In this tutorial we will focus on writing tests that can be automated.

Why automated tests?¶

If you have heard about test management and dedicated testers (i.e. "software tester" as a job title) and the related activities deal with tests that can be automated, rest assured that those are dinosaurs that are meant to be extinct. Every test activity that can be automated should be automated, in a modern environment.

Why does that matter? Because tests that run automatically don't need to bother us, and that frees our minds and our energies for doing more important and interesting things: Developing features, i.e. writing code and their accompanying tests.

Who should take care of testing?¶

In modern software development, you write code and tests together. When you release a feature, this feature is accompanied by tests that can run automatically. Why is this important? As a developer, I want to ensure that the feature I ship works today, and continues to work in the future.