Lessons learned about testing and TDD
summary
Describes building the Sardinia Radio Telescope control software with pytest fixtures for CLI and component tests and a workflow from user story to unit tests. Claims unit tests must be fast and selective with ideally one assert per test, that servo movement takes minutes so tests use hardware simulators rather than mocks to run quickly, and that TDD raises coverage but isn’t religiously required; integration tests verify component API contracts and long term maintenance improves despite upfront cost.
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Start
- 4:26Development Workflow
- 11:29A User Story
- 12:19User Acceptance Test
- 13:45Functional Test: User Point Of View
- 16:12Integration Test: System Point Of View
- 19:20Component Implementation
- 19:57Unit Tests Should Run Offline
- 20:42Unit Tests With Mock Objects
- 21:48Tests With Simulators
- 23:45No TDD and more Functional Tests?
- 24:44Are functional tests worse than useless?
- 25:17A Recent Story: the Airbus A350
- 26:22Lessons Learned
