By taking advantage of software design principles and patterns, you can build software that is more resilient to change. Software design patterns are architectural patterns. They focus on the gross architecture of your application. If you want to make your applications more change proof on a more granular level, then you can build unit tests for your application. A unit test enables you to verify whether a particular method in your application works as you intend it to work. There are many benefits that result from writing unit tests for your code:
1. Building tests for your code provides you with a safety net for change.
2. Building tests for your code forces you to write loosely coupled code.
3. Building tests for your code forces you to take a user perspective on the code.
First, unit tests provide you with a safety net for change. This is a point that Michael
Feathers emphasizes again and again in his book Working Effectively with Legacy Code. In fact, he defines legacy code as “simply code without tests”.
When your application code is covered by unit tests, you can modify the code without the fear that the modifications will break the functionality of your code. Unit tests make your code safe to refactor. If you can refactor, then you can modify your code using software design patterns and thus produce better code that is more resilient to change.
Second, writing unit tests for your code forces you to write code in a particular way.
Testable code tends to be loosely coupled code. A unit test performs a test on a unit of code in isolation. To build your application so that it is testable, you need to build the application in such a way that it has isolatable components.
One class is loosely coupled to a second class when you can change the first class without changing the second class. Test-driven development often forces you to write loosely coupled code. Loosely coupled code is resistant to change.
Finally, writing unit tests forces you to take a user’s perspective on the code. When writing a unit test, you take on the same perspective as a developer who will use your code in the future. Because writing tests forces you to think about how a developer (perhaps, your future self) will use your code, the code tends to be better designed.
Source of Information : Sams ASP .NET MVC Framework Unleashed
1. Building tests for your code provides you with a safety net for change.
2. Building tests for your code forces you to write loosely coupled code.
3. Building tests for your code forces you to take a user perspective on the code.
First, unit tests provide you with a safety net for change. This is a point that Michael
Feathers emphasizes again and again in his book Working Effectively with Legacy Code. In fact, he defines legacy code as “simply code without tests”.
When your application code is covered by unit tests, you can modify the code without the fear that the modifications will break the functionality of your code. Unit tests make your code safe to refactor. If you can refactor, then you can modify your code using software design patterns and thus produce better code that is more resilient to change.
Second, writing unit tests for your code forces you to write code in a particular way.
Testable code tends to be loosely coupled code. A unit test performs a test on a unit of code in isolation. To build your application so that it is testable, you need to build the application in such a way that it has isolatable components.
One class is loosely coupled to a second class when you can change the first class without changing the second class. Test-driven development often forces you to write loosely coupled code. Loosely coupled code is resistant to change.
Finally, writing unit tests forces you to take a user’s perspective on the code. When writing a unit test, you take on the same perspective as a developer who will use your code in the future. Because writing tests forces you to think about how a developer (perhaps, your future self) will use your code, the code tends to be better designed.
Source of Information : Sams ASP .NET MVC Framework Unleashed
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