Best-Practices
How to Make Your Tests Readable
This article explores how to write more readable and maintainable tests. It covers behavior-focused naming, structured test patterns, minimizing irrelevant details, using test data builders, and intent-revealing helpers to make tests easier to understand and maintain.
How to Create a Test Data Builder
This article explains how to build flexible and expressive test data using custom builders. It covers hiding irrelevant details, setting safe defaults, and combining builders with object mothers to simplify test code. Following these patterns makes tests easier to read, maintain, and adapt to changes in object structures.
DRY and DAMP in Tests
This article explores how to apply DRY and DAMP principles in tests without sacrificing readability. It demonstrates using test data builders to centralize object construction and custom assertions to simplify verification. These patterns help keep tests both maintainable and expressive.
How Do I Test Private Methods?
This article explains why private methods should be tested indirectly through public methods. It discusses how complex private logic can indicate design issues and how refactoring into smaller classes or using appropriate visibility can improve testability. Following this approach keeps tests maintainable and allows refactoring without breaking them.
Code Quality Checks
Code quality often deteriorates over time, especially in legacy projects, slowing development and introducing bugs. Using code reviews, static analysis, and dynamic analysis helps detect issues early, while fast feedback loops prevent problems from accumulating. Combining these practices with continuous monitoring ensures cleaner, more maintainable code.
Testing Myth #2: Unit Tests Are Not Worth It
Many developers see unit tests as extra work, but their main purpose is improving design, not just finding bugs. Writing tests while coding encourages loose coupling, high cohesion, and produces a fast regression suite. Adding tests after the fact may require refactoring to gain real benefits.
Testing Myth #1: Writing Tests Slows You Down
Skipping tests might speed up short-term development, but it increases long-term maintenance costs and debugging time. Writing high-quality, feature-focused tests improves stability, catches errors early, and makes future changes easier and safer. Investing in tests upfront ultimately accelerates development over the software’s lifecycle.
Avoiding Unnecessary Null Checks
Null checks are a common source of bugs and clutter in code. This article explores ways to avoid returning or passing nulls, including using the Null Object pattern, throwing exceptions, and designing objects that encapsulate behavior. By eliminating nulls, you simplify code, reduce errors, and encourage cleaner design.
Misconceptions About Code Reuse
Reusing code is important, but inheritance and static utility classes are often misapplied. Inheritance should focus on modeling hierarchies, not sharing methods, while utility classes can violate object-oriented principles. This article explains how to use composition and meaningful class responsibilities to create cleaner, more flexible, and maintainable code.
How to Prevent Legacy Code From Emerging
Legacy code does not appear out of nowhere. It often grows from small shortcuts, missing tests, and neglected refactoring. This article explains how developers unintentionally create messy, unmaintainable code and offers practical strategies to prevent it. By maintaining code, refactoring while adding features, and writing tests, you can keep your codebase clean and easier to work with over time.