Testing Patterns

---

name: testing-patterns model: standard category: testing description: Unit, integration, and E2E testing patterns with framework-specific guidance. Use when asked to "write tests", "add test coverage", "testing strategy", "test this function", "create test suite", "fix flaky tests", or "improve test quality". version: 1.0

---

Testing Patterns

> Write tests that catch bugs, not tests that pass. — Confidence through coverage, speed through isolation.

---

Testing Pyramid

| Level | Ratio | Speed | Cost | Confidence | Scope | |-------|-------|-------|------|------------|-------| | Unit | ~70% | ms | Low | Low (isolated) | Single function/class | | Integration | ~20% | seconds | Medium | Medium | Module boundaries, APIs, DB | | E2E | ~10% | minutes | High | High (realistic) | Full user workflows |

> Rule: If your E2E tests outnumber your unit tests, invert the pyramid.

---

Unit Testing Patterns

Core Patterns

| Pattern | When to Use | Structure | |---------|------------|-----------| | Arrange-Act-Assert | Default for all unit tests | Setup, Execute, Verify | | Given-When-Then | BDD-style, behavior-focused | Precondition, Action, Outcome | | Parameterized | Same logic, multiple inputs | Data-driven test cases | | Snapshot | UI components, serialized output | Compare against saved baseline | | Property-Based | Mathematical invariants | Generate random inputs, assert properties |

Arrange-Act-Assert (AAA)

The default structure for every unit test. Clear separation of setup, execution, and verification makes tests readable and maintainable.

// Clean AAA structure
test('calculates order total with tax', () => {
  // Arrange
  const items = [{ price: 10, qty: 2 }, { price: 5, qty: 1 }];
  const taxRate = 0.08;
  // Act
  const total = calculateTotal(items, taxRate);
  // Assert
  expect(total).toBe(27.0);
});

Test Doubles

Use the right type of test double for the situation. Each serves a different purpose.

| Double | Purpose | When to Use | Example | |--------|---------|-------------|---------| | Stub | Returns canned data | Control indirect input | jest.fn().mockReturnValue(42) | | Mock | Verifies interactions | Assert something was called | expect(mock).toHaveBeenCalledWith('arg') | | Spy | Wraps real implementation | Observe without replacing | jest.spyOn(service, 'save') | | Fake | Working simplified impl | Need realistic behavior | In-memory database, fake HTTP server |

// Stub — control indirect input
const getUser = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({ id: 1, name: 'Alice' });
// Spy — observe without replacing
const spy = jest.spyOn(logger, 'warn');
processInvalidInput(data);
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Invalid input received');
// Fake — lightweight substitute
class FakeUserRepo implements UserRepository {
  private users = new Map();
  async save(user: User) { this.users.set(user.id, user); }
  async findById(id: string) { return this.users.get(id) ?? null; }
}

Parameterized Tests

Use parameterized tests when the same logic needs verification with multiple inputs. This eliminates copy-paste tests while providing comprehensive coverage.

// Vitest/Jest
test.each([
  ['hello', 'HELLO'],
  ['world', 'WORLD'],
  ['', ''],
  ['123abc', '123ABC'],
])('toUpperCase(%s) returns %s', (input, expected) => {
  expect(input.toUpperCase()).toBe(expected);
});

# pytest
@pytest.mark.parametrize("input,expected", [
    ("hello", "HELLO"),
    ("world", "WORLD"),
    ("", ""),
])
def test_to_upper(input, expected):
    assert input.upper() == expected

// Go — table-driven tests (idiomatic)
func TestAdd(t *testing.T) {
    tests := []struct {
        name     string
        a, b     int
        expected int
    }{
        {"positive", 2, 3, 5},
        {"zero", 0, 0, 0},
        {"negative", -1, -2, -3},
    }
    for _, tc := range tests {
        t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
            if got := Add(tc.a, tc.b); got != tc.expected {
                t.Errorf("Add(%d,%d) = %d, want %d", tc.a, tc.b, got, tc.expected)
            }
        })
    }
}

---

Integration Testing Patterns

Database Testing Strategies

| Strategy | Approach | Trade-off | |----------|----------|-----------| | Transaction rollback | Wrap each test in a transaction, rollback after | Fast, but hides commit bugs | | Fixtures/seeds | Load known data before suite | Predictable, but brittle if schema changes | | Factory functions | Generate data programmatically | Flexible, but more setup code | | Testcontainers | Spin up real DB in Docker | Realistic, but slower startup |

// Transaction rollback pattern (Prisma)
beforeEach(async () => {
  await prisma.$executeRawBEGIN;
});
afterEach(async () => {
  await prisma.$executeRawROLLBACK;
});
test('creates user in database', async () => {
  const user = await createUser({ name: 'Alice', email: 'a@b.com' });
  const found = await prisma.user.findUnique({ where: { id: user.id } });
  expect(found?.name).toBe('Alice');
});

API Testing

// Supertest (Node.js)
import request from 'supertest';
import { app } from '../src/app';
describe('POST /api/users', () => {
  it('creates a user and returns 201', async () => {
    const res = await request(app)
      .post('/api/users')
      .send({ name: 'Alice', email: 'alice@test.com' })
      .expect(201);
    expect(res.body).toMatchObject({
      id: expect.any(String),
      name: 'Alice',
    });
  });
  it('returns 400 for invalid email', async () => {
    await request(app)
      .post('/api/users')
      .send({ name: 'Alice', email: 'not-an-email' })
      .expect(400);
  });
});

---

Mocking Best Practices

Mock Boundaries, Not Implementations

The fundamental rule: mock at system boundaries (external APIs, databases, file systems) and never mock internal domain logic.

// BAD — mocking internal implementation
jest.mock('./utils/formatDate');  // Breaks on refactor
// GOOD — mocking external boundary
jest.mock('./services/paymentGateway');  // Third-party API is the boundary

When to Mock vs Not Mock

| Mock | Don't Mock | |------|-----------| | HTTP APIs, external services | Pure functions | | Database (in unit tests) | Your own domain logic | | File system, network | Data transformations | | Time/Date (Date.now) | Simple calculations | | Environment variables | Internal class methods |

Dependency Injection for Testability

Structure code so dependencies can be swapped in tests. This is the single most impactful pattern for testable code.

// Injectable dependencies — easy to test
class OrderService {
  constructor(
    private paymentGateway: PaymentGateway,
    private inventory: InventoryService,
    private notifier: NotificationService,
  ) {}
  async placeOrder(order: Order): Promise {
    const stock = await this.inventory.check(order.items);
    if (!stock.available) return { status: 'out_of_stock' };
    const payment = await this.paymentGateway.charge(order.total);
    if (!payment.success) return { status: 'payment_failed' };
    await this.notifier.send(order.userId, 'Order confirmed');
    return { status: 'confirmed', id: payment.transactionId };
  }
}
// In tests — inject fakes
const service = new OrderService(
  new FakePaymentGateway(),
  new FakeInventory({ available: true }),
  new FakeNotifier(),
);

---

Framework Quick Reference

| Framework | Language | Type | Test Runner | Assertion | |-----------|----------|------|-------------|-----------| | Jest | JS/TS | Unit/Integration | Built-in | expect() | | Vitest | JS/TS | Unit/Integration | Vite-native | expect() (Jest-compatible) | | Playwright | JS/TS/Python | E2E | Built-in | expect() / locators | | Cypress | JS/TS | E2E | Built-in | cy.should() | | pytest | Python | Unit/Integration | Built-in | assert | | Go testing | Go | Unit/Integration | go test | t.Error() / testify | | Rust | Rust | Unit/Integration | cargo test | assert!() / assert_eq!() | | JUnit 5 | Java/Kotlin | Unit/Integration | Built-in | assertEquals() | | RSpec | Ruby | Unit/Integration | Built-in | expect().to | | PHPUnit | PHP | Unit/Integration | Built-in | $this->assert*() | | xUnit | C# | Unit/Integration | Built-in | Assert.Equal() |

---

Test Quality Checklist

| Quality | Rule | Why | |---------|------|-----| | Deterministic | Same input produces same result, every time | Flaky tests erode trust | | Isolated | No shared mutable state between tests | Order-dependent tests break in CI | | Fast | Unit: < 10ms, Integration: < 1s, E2E: < 30s | Slow tests don't get run | | Readable | Test name describes the scenario and expectation | Tests are documentation | | Maintainable | Change one behavior, change one test | Brittle tests slow development | | Focused | One logical assertion per test | Failures pinpoint the problem |

> Naming convention: test_[unit]_[scenario]_[expected result] or should [do X] when [condition Y]

---

Coverage Strategy

When to Aim for What

| Target | When | Rationale | |--------|------|-----------| | 80%+ line coverage | Business logic, utilities, core domain | High ROI — catches most regressions | | 90%+ branch coverage | Payment processing, auth, security-critical | Edge cases matter here | | 100% coverage | Almost never — diminishing returns | Getter/setter tests add noise, not confidence | | Mutation testing | Critical paths after coverage is high | Verifies tests actually catch bugs |

What NOT to Test

| Skip | Reason | |------|--------| | Generated code (Prisma client, protobuf) | Maintained by tooling | | Third-party library internals | Not your responsibility | | Simple getters/setters | No logic to verify | | Configuration files | Test the behavior they configure instead | | Console.log / print statements | Side effects with no business value |

---

Test Organization

src/
├── services/
│   ├── order.service.ts
│   └── order.service.test.ts      # Co-located unit tests
├── api/
│   └── routes/
│       └── orders.ts
tests/
├── integration/
│   ├── api/
│   │   └── orders.test.ts         # API integration tests
│   └── db/
│       └── order.repo.test.ts     # DB integration tests
├── e2e/
│   ├── pages/                     # Page objects
│   │   └── checkout.page.ts
│   └── specs/
│       └── checkout.spec.ts       # E2E specs
└── helpers/
    ├── factories.ts               # Test data factories
    └── setup.ts                   # Global test setup

> Rule: Co-locate unit tests with source. Separate integration and E2E tests into dedicated directories.

---

Anti-Patterns

| Anti-Pattern | Problem | Fix | |--------------|---------|-----| | Testing implementation | Tests break on refactor, not on bugs | Test behavior and outputs, not internals | | Flaky tests | Non-deterministic failures erode CI trust | Remove time/order/network dependencies | | Test pollution | Shared mutable state leaks between tests | Reset state in beforeEach / setUp | | Sleeping in tests | sleep(2000) is slow and unreliable | Use explicit waits, polling, or events | | Giant arrange | 50 lines of setup obscure intent | Extract factories/builders/fixtures | | Assert-free tests | Test runs but verifies nothing | Every test must assert or expect | | Overmocking | Mocking everything tests nothing real | Only mock external boundaries | | Copy-paste tests | Duplicated tests diverge and rot | Use parameterized tests or helpers | | Testing the framework | Verifying library code works | Test *your* logic, trust dependencies | | Ignoring test failures | skip, xit, @Disabled accumulate | Fix or delete — never hoard skipped tests | | Tight coupling to DB | Tests fail when schema changes | Use repository pattern + fakes for unit tests | | One giant test | Single test covers 10 scenarios | Split into focused, named tests | | No test for bug fix | Regression reappears later | Every bug fix gets a regression test |

---

NEVER Do

1. NEVER test implementation details instead of behavior — tests must verify what the code does, not how it does it 2. NEVER use sleep() in tests — use explicit waits, polling, events, or assertions that auto-retry 3. NEVER share mutable state between tests — each test sets up and tears down its own state 4. NEVER write assert-free tests — a test that asserts nothing proves nothing 5. NEVER mock internal domain logic — only mock at system boundaries (network, DB, filesystem, clock) 6. NEVER skip tests without a linked issue and a plan to re-enable — skipped tests rot into permanent gaps 7. NEVER leave a test suite in a failing state — fix it or remove it with justification before moving on 8. NEVER chase 100% coverage as a goal — coverage percentage is a tool, not a target; strong assertions on critical paths beat weak assertions everywhere

---

Summary

| Do | Don't | |----|-------| | Test behavior, not implementation | Mock everything in sight | | Write the test before fixing a bug | Skip tests to ship faster | | Keep tests fast and deterministic | Use sleep() or shared state | | Use factories for test data | Copy-paste setup across tests | | Mock at system boundaries | Mock internal functions | | Name tests descriptively | Name tests test1, test2 | | Run tests in CI on every push | Only run tests locally | | Delete or fix skipped tests | Let @skip accumulate forever | | Use parameterized tests for variants | Duplicate test code | | Inject dependencies for testability | Hard-code dependencies |

> Remember: Tests are a safety net — a fast, trustworthy suite lets you refactor fearlessly and ship with confidence.