Custom Integration Testing Why’s and What’s!

If you know a thing or two about software, then you know that integration testing is vital to ensuring your system runs without a glitch. If you don’t know what integration testing is, you should–your functionality isn’t nearly as competitive without it. Here are five integration testing best practices your software developers should be using every time they log on to test your code.

1. Do Integration Testing Before Unit Testing
It might sound completely counterintuitive–why test the whole system before you test the individual parts?
There’s actually a very good reason for this. But first, we need to talk about the difference between integration testing and unit testing.

Essentially, unit testing examines the smallest testable module of an application to ensure that the code performs the right way. And if you want to practice agile development, you should do it after integration testing.
Under the logic of agile development, this allows you to make any necessary changes to your business model as you progress instead of obsessing over the small details. It grants you greater efficiency and flexibility in your business model.

2. Maintain Separate Testing Suites
When we say that integration testing should happen before unit testing, we mean it. Seriously. Don’t try to run them at the same time. This is part of not confusing unit testing with integration testing. When developers run unit tests, they have to be able to get immediate feedback to ensure their changes to the code haven’t broken something. If their test suite takes too long, they may stop running unit and integration tests altogether.
By maintaining separate testing suites, developers can run faster unit tests as needed and longer, more tedious integration tests less frequently without the two disrupting each other.

3. Log Constantly
Integration tests are enormous in scope.
Where a unit test comprises only one small part of a system, integration tests may span several software modules across different devices. So if an integration test fails, it’s harder to spot what went wrong and where.
This is why it’s vital to log constantly. Consistent, frequent logging makes it easier for developers to spot a problem in an integration test faster.

4. Use Continuous Integration Testing

Continuous integration testing is vital to an agile development methodology. Continuous integration is about bringing together all source code from participating developers and testing it on a CI server. This will allow your developers to catch any and all bugs in the code before delivery. Basically, it’s a way of streamlining your integration testing to make sure you catch any potential flaws.

5. Don’t Stop at Integration Testing
Your development process doesn’t end with integration testing. In fact, it’s only just beginning.
Your software will exist in a complex ecosystem. Integration testing isn’t enough to ensure a smooth user experience on its own–you need to run system tests and unit tests to make sure every individual part is working without a hitch.

Integration Testing for Your Business

If you need to do integration testing, then you know you need a streamlined process that will keep your software up and running efficiently. 3Si2 is here to help you make sure your software performs like a superhero. Check out the blog for more tips and trends in software design, like this post on how to save money on software integration. If you need a professional on your side, no worries. Use the contact page to get in touch.