For many years, I questioned why bother with unit testing, especially at the time when I just finished college and joined a small startup. There, we all just were busy writing tons of code to build new features day in and day out, and never wrote any unit tests. Even though I occasionally read about unit testing in books and online, I couldn’t see why it mattered.
But then, I worked in larger corporations and started working on larger projects where many developers, some still on the team and others who had left, contributed to the codebase. That’s when it clicked for me. To make projects scalable, the essence of unit tests became more and more visible. Through firsthand experience, I finally grasped the true meaning of unit testing. No book could have taught me that lesson.
The long-lasting struggles of trying to understand unit tests has finally come to an end.
You wouldn’t have any idea how many keyboards are snapped and monitor screens punched through in frustration every day by developers worldwide, as they struggle with the frustration of dealing with poorly written code. ðŸ˜
Here are a few benefits I learned that solid unit testing provides:
Increased Confidence
Creating robust tests ensures that our code is functioning as intended, including many overlooked edge cases. Additionally, it also boosts developers’ confidence when they’re working on code written by others. If all tests pass after we make updates, we usually don’t need to worry about accidentally breaking something else.
Enhanced Understanding
Not only does it save time, but it also leads to a better understanding of the code. Developers gain a deeper understanding of the code through these test cases, sometimes without even needing to explore the code itself.
Efficient Debugging
Solid tests speed up the debugging process.
Organized Code Structure
Following the TDD programming principle means writing code in a certain way. Each function typically handles just one task. This makes it easy to test parts of the code separately. These practices help keep the code organized and consistent. Code that’s messy is usually tough to test with unit tests.
Look Cool
Mastering Test-Driven Development (TDD) is certainly a valuable skill and often associated with more experienced developers. Not only does it make your code look cool, but it also makes you look so cool that it may just solve global warming! 😎
References
Mastering in react testing library: 7 tips to optimize your tests