A Pragmatic Approach to Testing
After years of working with different testing approaches, I've found that the most effective testing strategies focus on value rather than coverage percentages. Testing is about confidence in your code, not about hitting arbitrary metrics.
Essential principles:
- Test behavior, not implementation
- Focus on critical paths first
- Use integration tests for complex workflows
- Keep unit tests focused and fast
- Automate repetitive test scenarios
The most valuable tests are often those that:
- Verify business-critical functionality
- Guard against regression in complex areas
- Document expected behavior
- Catch edge cases in data processing
Remember: tests are code too. They need maintenance, refactoring, and careful design consideration.