Test-Driven Development: An Approach To Maintain Software Quality And Cut Costs

Test-driven development or TDD is a software development methodology that is based on the recurrence of short development cycles. How does it work? First, QA engineer creates a test that should cover all changes they need. Then, developer or QA engineer writes a programming code that implements the behavior of system they want to get in the issue. And this code should make possible to undergo a written test. Then refactoring of the written code with a constant verification of test efficiency is performed.

By the way, all tests and software in TDD methodology can be created by one programmer. But, ideally, two specialists should be engaged in this process. It can be two programmers or one programmer and one QA engineer.

Software testing is a procedure that helps confirm or refute the efficiency of written code and it's correct functionality. When testing is performed, the software requires input data and it requests the implementation of a specific command, and afterward, conformity verification of results is performed. If the result meets an expected point - a test is considered to be successfully finished. But in addition to manual testing, this process can be automated, and then testing process will go faster and more thorough.

Test-driven development tools help organize automated testing of developed software by writing modular, integration and functional tests that indicate requirements for code before developers write this code. So, what do we have in TDD lifecycle?

• QA engineer/Developer creates a test that verifies how accurate an unwritten code is;

• Then a developer writes a code that performs actions required for successful test implementation;

• After a successful test completion, revision and elaboration (refactoring) of written code is performed.

Now it is time to proceed to main benefits of test-driven development.

At Cleveroad we can use test-driven development due to many reasons, and you will find all of them below.

That is the list of main advantages TDD brings to us and your software. But there is also one benefit we didn't mention - cost reduction. Price is a very important factor for any customer, right? And it also helps save the quality at a high level. I would like to pay your attention to this clause more deeply, so read about cost reduction with the help of test-driven development below.

Even when we are engaged in the test-driven development, and we create a high-level software without bugs, it doesn't mean that we spend less time on it. To create tests, our developers and QA engineers do their best to elaborate all future functionality in tests. But in the long run, it will be much faster since all functionality will be tested automatically upon each change or modification.

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And, despite the fact that test-driven development process is time-consuming procedure at first, then the development process goes much faster and it has a direct impact on the initial cost of the project. Since the development is moving faster when all software is tested continuously, and there is no fear that something can fail in the end. The fewer problems we have, the faster your project will be completed. That means you can reduce costs for your software development.

Test-driven development brings an automated auxiliary tool that prevents developers from fixing everything from scratch and verifying thousands of code lines manually.

That is why both parties benefit from TDD advantages - both Cleveroad and customer. If we meet all deadlines, it is also good for you since you save a penny. That is why we think that TDD is a very good approach if you want to create a high-quality product on time.

Here we would like to specify what TDD steps our developers and QA engineers should take to elaborate the whole process wisely. It guarantees a perfect result in the end.

So, as we told already, this methodology makes it possible to create a software that is applicable for automated testing and create good test coverage of code. Since all features that software should perform must be verified and tested. Also, test-driven software development allows to simplify software implementation, redundancy of implementation is excluded - if the component is covered with the test, it is considered to be efficient.

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Test-driven development can be used depending on a specific case, but, on the whole, the architecture of software products made with TDD is usually better. Stability of software functionality developed through the test is higher due to the coverage of all functional capabilities by tests and their efficiency is verified constantly. Developers can easily make changes in code, if something goes wrong - automated testing will show it.

These are main reasons and advantages of test-driven development and why we can offer you this development type. Of course, if the project you want to turn into reality is not big, there is no need to use TDD. Also, if the development requires a few steps of unusual experiments, and a customer doesn't know exactly what he or she wants to see in the issue - then TDD will bring more chaos than benefits.

Our conclusion is the following - TDD is more acceptable for writing software where complex algorithms are used and if this software is elaborated from beginning to the end. If you think we need to use test-driven development for your project - drop us a line, we will help you make a right decision. Also, subscribe to our blog - subscribe button is on the right side!