tomevault-io Testing Strategies Skill
Overview
This skill provides comprehensive guidelines for implementing effective testing strategies across unit, integration, and end-to-end testing.
Testing Pyramid
/\
/ \ E2E Tests (10%)
/____\ Slow, expensive, critical paths
/ \
/________\ Integration Tests (30%)
/ \ Component interactions, APIs
/____________\
/ \
Unit Tests (60%) Fast, cheap, comprehensive
Unit Testing
1. Principles
// FIRST Principles:
// F - Fast (milliseconds)
// I - Isolated (no dependencies)
// R - Repeatable (same result every time)
// S - Self-verifying (no manual checking)
// T - Timely (write with code)
// AAA Pattern:
// Arrange - Set up test data and mocks
// Act - Execute the code under test
// Assert - Verify the results
func TestUserService_CreateUser(t *testing.T) {
// Arrange
mockRepo := &mockUserRepository{}
mockRepo.On("Create", mock.Anything, mock.Anything).Return(nil)
service := NewUserService(mockRepo)
ctx := context.Background()
req := CreateUserRequest{
Email: "user@example.com",
Name: "John Doe",
}
// Act
user, err := service.CreateUser(ctx, req)
// Assert
assert.NoError(t, err)
assert.NotNil(t, user)
assert.Equal(t, "user@example.com", user.Email)
mockRepo.AssertExpectations(t)
}
2. Table-Driven Tests
func TestCalculateDiscount(t *testing.T) {
tests := []struct {
name string
price float64
discountCode string
expectedPrice float64
expectedError bool
}{
{
name: "valid 10% discount",
price: 100.0,
discountCode: "SAVE10",
expectedPrice: 90.0,
expectedError: false,
},
{
name: "valid 20% discount",
price: 100.0,
discountCode: "SAVE20",
expectedPrice: 80.0,
expectedError: false,
},
{
name: "invalid discount code",
price: 100.0,
discountCode: "INVALID",
expectedPrice: 0.0,
expectedError: true,
},
{
name: "negative price",
price: -50.0,
discountCode: "SAVE10",
expectedPrice: 0.0,
expectedError: true,
},
}
for _, tt := range tests {
t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
result, err := CalculateDiscount(tt.price, tt.discountCode)
if tt.expectedError {
assert.Error(t, err)
} else {
assert.NoError(t, err)
assert.InDelta(t, tt.expectedPrice, result, 0.01)
}
})
}
}
3. Mocking
// Interface for dependency injection
type EmailService interface {
Send(ctx context.Context, to string, subject string, body string) error
}
// Mock implementation
type mockEmailService struct {
mock.Mock
}
func (m *mockEmailService) Send(ctx context.Context, to string, subject string, body string) error {
args := m.Called(ctx, to, subject, body)
return args.Error(0)
}
// Test with mock
func TestNotificationService_NotifyUser(t *testing.T) {
mockEmail := &mockEmailService{}
mockEmail.On("Send",
mock.Anything,
"user@example.com",
"Welcome!",
mock.Anything,
).Return(nil)
service := NewNotificationService(mockEmail)
err := service.NotifyUser(context.Background(), "user@example.com", "Welcome!")
assert.NoError(t, err)
mockEmail.AssertCalled(t, "Send",
mock.Anything,
"user@example.com",
"Welcome!",
mock.Anything,
)
}
Integration Testing
1. Database Integration
func TestUserRepository_Create(t *testing.T) {
// Setup test database
ctx := context.Background()
db := setupTestDB(t)
defer teardownTestDB(t, db)
repo := NewUserRepository(db)
// Test
user := &User{
Email: "test@example.com",
Name: "Test User",
}
err := repo.Create(ctx, user)
require.NoError(t, err)
assert.NotEmpty(t, user.ID)
// Verify in database
var count int
err = db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users WHERE email = $1", user.Email).Scan(&count)
require.NoError(t, err)
assert.Equal(t, 1, count)
}
// Test database setup
type testDB struct {
*sql.DB
name string
}
func setupTestDB(t *testing.T) *testDB {
// Create isolated test database
dbName := fmt.Sprintf("test_%s_%d", t.Name(), time.Now().Unix())
connStr := fmt.Sprintf("host=localhost user=postgres password=secret dbname=%s sslmode=disable", dbName)
db, err := sql.Open("postgres", connStr)
require.NoError(t, err)
// Run migrations
runMigrations(db)
return &testDB{DB: db, name: dbName}
}
func teardownTestDB(t *testing.T, db *testDB) {
db.Close()
// Drop test database
}
2. HTTP API Testing
// API integration test
import request from 'supertest';
import { app } from '../src/app';
import { setupTestDB, teardownTestDB } from './helpers/database';
describe('POST /api/users', () => {
beforeAll(async () => {
await setupTestDB();
});
afterAll(async () => {
await teardownTestDB();
});
it('should create a new user', async () => {
const response = await request(app)
.post('/api/users')
.send({
email: 'test@example.com',
name: 'Test User'
})
.expect(201);
expect(response.body).toMatchObject({
email: 'test@example.com',
name: 'Test User'
});
expect(response.body.id).toBeDefined();
});
it('should return 400 for invalid email', async () => {
const response = await request(app)
.post('/api/users')
.send({
email: 'invalid-email',
name: 'Test User'
})
.expect(400);
expect(response.body.error).toBeDefined();
});
it('should return 409 for duplicate email', async () => {
// Create user first
await request(app)
.post('/api/users')
.send({
email: 'duplicate@example.com',
name: 'Test User'
});
// Try to create again
await request(app)
.post('/api/users')
.send({
email: 'duplicate@example.com',
name: 'Test User'
})
.expect(409);
});
});
3. External Service Testing
// Use test containers for external services
func TestWithRedis(t *testing.T) {
ctx := context.Background()
// Start Redis container
req := testcontainers.ContainerRequest{
Image: "redis:latest",
ExposedPorts: []string{"6379/tcp"},
WaitingFor: wait.ForListeningPort("6379/tcp"),
}
redisC, err := testcontainers.GenericContainer(ctx, testcontainers.GenericContainerRequest{
ContainerRequest: req,
Started: true,
})
require.NoError(t, err)
defer redisC.Terminate(ctx)
// Connect to Redis
endpoint, err := redisC.Endpoint(ctx, "")
require.NoError(t, err)
client := redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
Addr: endpoint,
})
// Test cache operations
cache := NewCache(client)
err = cache.Set(ctx, "key", "value", time.Hour)
require.NoError(t, err)
val, err := cache.Get(ctx, "key")
require.NoError(t, err)
assert.Equal(t, "value", val)
}
End-to-End Testing
1. E2E with Playwright
// e2e/user-journey.spec.ts
import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
test.describe('User Registration Flow', () => {
test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
// Setup: Clean database, seed data if needed
await page.goto('/register');
});
test('user can register successfully', async ({ page }) => {
// Fill registration form
await page.fill('[name="email"]', 'newuser@example.com');
await page.fill('[name="password"]', 'SecurePass123!');
await page.fill('[name="confirmPassword"]', 'SecurePass123!');
// Submit form
await page.click('button[type="submit"]');
// Verify redirect to dashboard
await expect(page).toHaveURL('/dashboard');
await expect(page.locator('h1')).toContainText('Welcome');
// Verify user is logged in
await expect(page.locator('[data-testid="user-menu"]')).toBeVisible();
});
test('shows error for existing email', async ({ page }) => {
await page.fill('[name="email"]', 'existing@example.com');
await page.fill('[name="password"]', 'SecurePass123!');
await page.click('button[type="submit"]');
await expect(page.locator('[data-testid="error-message"]'))
.toContainText('Email already exists');
});
test('validates password requirements', async ({ page }) => {
await page.fill('[name="email"]', 'test@example.com');
await page.fill('[name="password"]', 'weak');
await page.click('button[type="submit"]');
await expect(page.locator('[data-testid="password-error"]'))
.toContainText('Password must be at least 8 characters');
});
});
2. Critical Path Testing
// Test only critical user journeys
const criticalPaths = [
{
name: 'Checkout Flow',
steps: [
'Add item to cart',
'Proceed to checkout',
'Fill shipping info',
'Enter payment',
'Confirm order'
]
},
{
name: 'User Authentication',
steps: [
'Register new account',
'Login',
'Access protected resource',
'Logout'
]
}
];
// Run these in CI pipeline
Test Organization
1. File Structure
project/
├── src/
│ └── user/
│ ├── service.go
│ ├── service_test.go # Unit tests
│ └── service_integration_test.go # Integration tests (build tag)
├── tests/
│ ├── integration/
│ │ ├── api/
│ │ │ └── user_api_test.go
│ │ └── database/
│ │ └── user_repo_test.go
│ └── e2e/
│ └── user-journey.spec.ts
└── testdata/
└── fixtures/
└── users.json
2. Test Tags
// Unit tests (default)
// go test ./...
// Integration tests with build tag
//go:build integration
// +build integration
package user_test
func TestUserRepositoryIntegration(t *testing.T) {
// Requires database
}
// Run: go test -tags=integration ./...
// E2E tests
//go:build e2e
// +build e2e
func TestUserJourney(t *testing.T) {
// Full system test
}
// Run: go test -tags=e2e ./...
Coverage and Metrics
1. Coverage Targets
# Overall coverage > 80%
go test -cover ./...
# Critical code coverage > 90%
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...
go tool cover -html=coverage.out -o coverage.html
# Coverage by package
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...
grep -v "_test.go" coverage.out | awk -F: '{print $1}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn
2. Mutation Testing
# Go
# Install: go install github.com/zimmski/go-mutesting@latest
go-mutesting ./...
# JavaScript
# Install: npm install -g stryker-cli
stryker run
Best Practices
DO:
- ✅ Test behavior, not implementation
- ✅ Use table-driven tests for multiple cases
- ✅ Keep tests independent and isolated
- ✅ Use meaningful test names
- ✅ Test edge cases and error conditions
- ✅ Use test fixtures and factories
- ✅ Mock external dependencies
- ✅ Run tests in CI/CD pipeline
DON'T:
- ❌ Test private methods (test public API)
- ❌ Share state between tests
- ❌ Use sleep() in tests (use async/await)
- ❌ Ignore flaky tests (fix them)
- ❌ Test everything (focus on critical paths)
- ❌ Write tests that depend on order
- ❌ Use production data in tests
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Writing unit tests
- Setting up integration tests
- Planning test strategy
- Reviewing test coverage
- Debugging test failures
- Setting up CI/CD testing
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