cst438 software engineering w3

What does the acronym FIRST mean with regards to software testing?  In case you forgot, go back to chapter 8 in Saas.

FIRST stands for fast, independent, repeatable, self-checking, and timely. Good software tests should be quick and easy, not depend on other conditions, not depend on external factors, check itself, and created or updated when code is tested.

         In software testing, there are a few types of software tests like unit, integration/functional, performance, and behavior. According to https://www.vogella.com/tutorials/JUnit/article.html, unit tests test a small amount of code like a method or class. It’s dependence on other classes is removed by using mock objects. Integration tests are used to tests the whole system like when a user uses it. Performance tests make sure the tests are fast when used repeatedly. Behavior tests check if methods are called with the correct input using mocks and stubs.

cst438 software engineering

In your own words, what is TDD about? 

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is done in order to use tests to develop code. It results in code that is well tested and easier to read than other methods, so better. The tests used should be Fast, Independent, Repeatable, Self-checking, and Timely (FIRST). Learning how to use the testing suite should save more time in the long run and you should have all the testing done by the end. In it, we do the three steps of Red, Green, and Refactor. First, write and run a test to make sure it fails, then write the minimum code to pass the test, then refactor the code to make it less redundant while passing the tests, then repeat the 3 steps.

What is a MOCK and how does it help in unit testing?

A mock is used for testing. It has all of the information needed to run the test but isn’t the actual object you are testing. If it needs to be as complex as an object, use an object by using a factory or fixture. This helps isolate issues with testing functions but not the implementation of the object.

CST438 Software Engineering

what did you think Software Engineering was about before you started this course?  After the first week, in what way has your concept of Software Engineering changed?

I thought that software engineering was the process that results in software. I have a better impression of software after this week. I thought that it was interesting how cloud computing became such an important innovation in the past few years. The book mentioned how a popular online game was able to scale because of cloud computing. I thought that was interesting because it would be difficult to maintain servers in the house if someone worked from home. On the other hand, it could cost them a lot if the website became very popular but didn’t generate any money. I wonder how cheap cloud computing can become in the coming years.

I had a bad experience with Digital Ocean droplet servers. For a small project, I signed up and then I thought I turned them all off but I kept getting charged every month. I kept them because I thought I would work on it later but didn’t. I eventually had to delete everything to get rid of the charges for good.