{ "uuid": [ { "value": "23bff06b-34e8-4f9a-ae67-4405393c874c" } ], "langcode": [ { "value": "en" } ], "type": [ { "target_id": "daily_email", "target_type": "node_type", "target_uuid": "8bde1f2f-eef9-4f2d-ae9c-96921f8193d7" } ], "revision_timestamp": [ { "value": "2025-05-11T09:00:51+00:00" } ], "revision_uid": [ { "target_type": "user", "target_uuid": "b8966985-d4b2-42a7-a319-2e94ccfbb849" } ], "revision_log": [], "status": [ { "value": true } ], "uid": [ { "target_type": "user", "target_uuid": "b8966985-d4b2-42a7-a319-2e94ccfbb849" } ], "title": [ { "value": "Writing good automated test names\n" } ], "created": [ { "value": "2022-11-15T00:00:00+00:00" } ], "changed": [ { "value": "2025-05-11T09:00:51+00:00" } ], "promote": [ { "value": false } ], "sticky": [ { "value": false } ], "default_langcode": [ { "value": true } ], "revision_translation_affected": [ { "value": true } ], "path": [ { "alias": "\/daily\/2022\/11\/15\/writing-good-automated-test-names", "langcode": "en" } ], "body": [ { "value": "\n

Something that I often see in code examples or tutorials are test methods like testGet<\/code> or testAdd<\/code>, or testSubtract<\/code>. Short method names that don't describe the scenario that they're testing in much detail.<\/p>\n\n

What if a get<\/code> method returns different types of value based on the input or a string is passed into a calculator method like add<\/code> or subtract<\/code>?<\/p>\n\n

I'd assume that the result of the calculation returns the total, but the test method doesn't say this.<\/p>\n\n

I'd rather be overly descriptive and write methods like should_add_two_or_more_numbers_and_return_the_total()<\/code> rather than testAdd<\/code>. It's a lot more readable and easier to see what the intention of the test is, and it's much better to use longer descriptive names when using options like --testdox<\/code> with PHPUnit, which converts the method name into a sentence, which is what I do when running tests in CI pipelines.<\/p>\n\n

Something that I've picked up and recommend is to start each test case with the word \"It\" or \"Should\". This gives it a more behavioural feel and puts you in the mindset of what you're testing and not the methods that you're executing.<\/p>\n\n

A method like 'testAdd' might make sense within a unit test focusing on a single class and method, but as I usually do outside-in testing - which mostly uses functional and integration tests - this approach works well for me.<\/p>\n\n ", "format": "full_html", "processed": "\n

Something that I often see in code examples or tutorials are test methods like testGet<\/code> or testAdd<\/code>, or testSubtract<\/code>. Short method names that don't describe the scenario that they're testing in much detail.<\/p>\n\n

What if a get<\/code> method returns different types of value based on the input or a string is passed into a calculator method like add<\/code> or subtract<\/code>?<\/p>\n\n

I'd assume that the result of the calculation returns the total, but the test method doesn't say this.<\/p>\n\n

I'd rather be overly descriptive and write methods like should_add_two_or_more_numbers_and_return_the_total()<\/code> rather than testAdd<\/code>. It's a lot more readable and easier to see what the intention of the test is, and it's much better to use longer descriptive names when using options like --testdox<\/code> with PHPUnit, which converts the method name into a sentence, which is what I do when running tests in CI pipelines.<\/p>\n\n

Something that I've picked up and recommend is to start each test case with the word \"It\" or \"Should\". This gives it a more behavioural feel and puts you in the mindset of what you're testing and not the methods that you're executing.<\/p>\n\n

A method like 'testAdd' might make sense within a unit test focusing on a single class and method, but as I usually do outside-in testing - which mostly uses functional and integration tests - this approach works well for me.<\/p>\n\n ", "summary": null } ], "feeds_item": [ { "imported": "1970-01-01T00:33:45+00:00", "guid": null, "hash": "e95a217380424b7821a1a9e61d048019", "target_type": "feeds_feed", "target_uuid": "90c85284-7ca8-4074-9178-97ff8384fe76" } ] }