What is Unit Testing?
By: Sapna Sapu
Tags: Software Testing, Software Tester, Web App Testing, Automation Testing, Testing

As we all know, software testing has many functional and non-functional testing types that are very important to ensure the desired software application is released defect-free. Unit testing is a functional testing type that is crucial in the software testing process.

Unit testing refers to the process of testing individual components of software to validate each component and ensure it is performing as expected. A unit or component here can be an individual function, method, module, or object. Unit testing is largely carried out during the coding phase.

Because of this reason, both developers and testers are involved in unit testing. It requires the expertise and skills of experienced QA engineers to be carried out efficiently. At Sapizon Technologies, we possess these expert QA testers that you might be looking for.

We are one of the top software testing companies offering our services to clients across various industries. Our team of software testers is vastly experienced in implementing diverse test strategies and delivering flawless software applications and elevating our clients’ businesses.

Why is Unit Testing Important?

Unit testing is one of the testing types that bring cost-effectiveness to the entire testing process if implemented early on. Here are some pointers explaining the importance of unit tests:

· Unit testing allows testers to fix bugs early in the software development cycle and avoid cost redundancies.

· It makes it easier for developers to understand the codebase so that they can make changes as quickly.

· Unit tests can be used as project documentation

· It helps in reusing code by moving both your code and your test cases to your new project. You can make small changes to the code until the tests are run again.

How is Unit Testing Performed?

On a common basis, unit testing is carried out under the automation approach. Although it can also be conducted manually, it is considered to be a tedious task comparatively. Here is how unit testing is performed via automation:

· Developers write sections of code in the software application to test the desired feature.

· They isolate the feature along with the code and collaborate with software testers to run test cases.

· Developers and testers code criteria in the test to ensure the code is correct.

· Once all the necessary protocols are in place, unit testing is carried out.

The workflow of unit testing is as follows:

· Creation of test cases.

· Review/Rework them.

· Baseline.

· Execute test cases.

Prominent Unit Testing Techniques:

Below are some of the techniques used in unit testing:

· Statement Coverage

· Decision Coverage

· Branch Coverage

· Condition Coverage

· Finite State Machine Coverage

Advantages of Unit Testing:

· Developers get to learn the functionality that is provided by a unit or component and also how to use it.

· They gain a basic understanding of the unit API.

· Unit testing allows developers to reuse the code at a later date, and make sure the software module still works correctly.

· By writing test cases for all functions and methods, defects can be quickly identified and fixed if they occur due to a change.

· Because of the modular nature of unit testing, certain portions of the project can be tested even though other portions are still under development.

Tools Used for Unit Testing:

Here are some of the tools used for unit testing:

· JUnit

· NUnit

· JMockit

· EMMA

· PHPUnit

Conclusion:

Testing every individual component of a software application early allows testers and developers enough time to make changes without incurring any cost redundancies. Therefore, unit testing is an important testing type that is widely adopted by most software testers.

At Sapizon Technologies, one of our main objectives is to ensure our clients are delivering defect-free applications in the market and we are playing our part in it. We aim to drive productivity in the businesses of our clients by providing them with the best services.

Having completed more than 100 successful projects, we have established ourselves as one of the best software testing companies. We operate under a result-driven approach and adhere to the best testing practices.