Unit Testing Framework

Overview

Write effective unit tests that are fast, isolated, readable, and maintainable following industry best practices and AAA (Arrange-Act-Assert) pattern.

When to Use

Writing tests for new code
Improving test coverage
Establishing testing standards
Refactoring with test safety
Implementing TDD (Test-Driven Development)
Creating test utilities and mocks

Instructions

1. Test Structure (AAA Pattern)

javascript

// Jest/JavaScript example
describe('UserService', () => {
  describe('createUser', () => {
    it('should create user with valid data', async () => {
      // Arrange - Set up test data and dependencies
      const userData = {
        email: 'john@example.com',
        firstName: 'John',
        lastName: 'Doe'
      };
      const mockDatabase = createMockDatabase();
      const service = new UserService(mockDatabase);

      // Act - Execute the function being tested
      const result = await service.createUser(userData);

      // Assert - Verify the outcome
      expect(result.id).toBeDefined();
      expect(result.email).toBe('john@example.com');
      expect(mockDatabase.save).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
        expect.objectContaining(userData)
      );
    });
  });
});

2. Test Cases by Language

JavaScript/TypeScript (Jest)

typescript

import { Calculator } from './calculator';

describe('Calculator', () => {
  let calculator: Calculator;

  beforeEach(() => {
    calculator = new Calculator();
  });

  describe('add', () => {
    it('should add two positive numbers', () => {
      expect(calculator.add(2, 3)).toBe(5);
    });

    it('should handle negative numbers', () => {
      expect(calculator.add(-2, 3)).toBe(1);
      expect(calculator.add(-2, -3)).toBe(-5);
    });

    it('should handle zero', () => {
      expect(calculator.add(0, 5)).toBe(5);
      expect(calculator.add(5, 0)).toBe(5);
    });
  });

  describe('divide', () => {
    it('should divide numbers correctly', () => {
      expect(calculator.divide(10, 2)).toBe(5);
    });

    it('should throw error when dividing by zero', () => {
      expect(() => calculator.divide(10, 0)).toThrow('Division by zero');
    });

    it('should handle decimal results', () => {
      expect(calculator.divide(10, 3)).toBeCloseTo(3.333, 2);
    });
  });
});

Python (pytest)

python

import pytest
from user_service import UserService, ValidationError

class TestUserService:
    @pytest.fixture
    def service(self, mock_database):
        """Fixture to create UserService instance"""
        return UserService(mock_database)

    @pytest.fixture
    def valid_user_data(self):
        return {
            'email': 'john@example.com',
            'first_name': 'John',
            'last_name': 'Doe'
        }

    def test_create_user_with_valid_data(self, service, valid_user_data):
        """Should create user with valid input"""
        # Act
        user = service.create_user(valid_user_data)

        # Assert
        assert user.id is not None
        assert user.email == 'john@example.com'
        assert user.first_name == 'John'

    def test_create_user_with_invalid_email(self, service):
        """Should raise ValidationError for invalid email"""
        invalid_data = {'email': 'invalid', 'first_name': 'John'}

        with pytest.raises(ValidationError) as exc_info:
            service.create_user(invalid_data)

        assert 'email' in str(exc_info.value)

    @pytest.mark.parametrize('email,expected', [
        ('user@example.com', True),
        ('invalid', False),
        ('', False),
        (None, False),
    ])
    def test_email_validation(self, service, email, expected):
        """Should validate email formats correctly"""
        assert service.validate_email(email) == expected

Java (JUnit 5)

java

import org.junit.jupiter.api.*;
import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;

class UserServiceTest {
    private UserService userService;
    private UserRepository mockRepository;

    @BeforeEach
    void setUp() {
        mockRepository = mock(UserRepository.class);
        userService = new UserService(mockRepository);
    }

    @Test
    @DisplayName("Should create user with valid data")
    void testCreateUserWithValidData() {
        // Arrange
        UserDto userDto = new UserDto("john@example.com", "John", "Doe");
        User savedUser = new User(1L, "john@example.com", "John", "Doe");
        when(mockRepository.save(any(User.class))).thenReturn(savedUser);

        // Act
        User result = userService.createUser(userDto);

        // Assert
        assertNotNull(result.getId());
        assertEquals("john@example.com", result.getEmail());
        verify(mockRepository, times(1)).save(any(User.class));
    }

    @Test
    @DisplayName("Should throw ValidationException for invalid email")
    void testCreateUserWithInvalidEmail() {
        UserDto userDto = new UserDto("invalid", "John", "Doe");

        ValidationException exception = assertThrows(
            ValidationException.class,
            () -> userService.createUser(userDto)
        );

        assertTrue(exception.getMessage().contains("email"));
    }

    @ParameterizedTest
    @ValueSource(strings = {"user@example.com", "test@domain.co.uk"})
    @DisplayName("Should validate correct email formats")
    void testValidEmailFormats(String email) {
        assertTrue(userService.validateEmail(email));
    }

    @ParameterizedTest
    @ValueSource(strings = {"invalid", "", "no-at-sign.com"})
    @DisplayName("Should reject invalid email formats")
    void testInvalidEmailFormats(String email) {
        assertFalse(userService.validateEmail(email));
    }
}

3. Mocking & Test Doubles

Mock External Dependencies

javascript

// Mock database
const mockDatabase = {
  save: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({ id: '123' }),
  findById: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue({ id: '123', name: 'John' }),
  delete: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(true)
};

// Mock HTTP client
jest.mock('axios');
axios.get.mockResolvedValue({ data: { users: [] } });

// Spy on methods
const spy = jest.spyOn(userService, 'sendEmail');
expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('john@example.com', 'Welcome');

Python Mocking

python

from unittest.mock import Mock, patch, MagicMock

def test_send_email(mocker):
    """Test email sending with mocked SMTP"""
    # Mock the SMTP client
    mock_smtp = mocker.patch('smtplib.SMTP')
    service = EmailService()

    # Act
    service.send_email('test@example.com', 'Subject', 'Body')

    # Assert
    mock_smtp.return_value.send_message.assert_called_once()

@patch('requests.get')
def test_fetch_user_data(mock_get):
    """Test API call with mocked requests"""
    mock_get.return_value.json.return_value = {'id': 1, 'name': 'John'}

    user = fetch_user_data(1)

    assert user['name'] == 'John'
    mock_get.assert_called_with('https://api.example.com/users/1')

4. Testing Async Code

javascript

// Jest async/await
it('should fetch user data', async () => {
  const user = await fetchUser('123');
  expect(user.id).toBe('123');
});

// Testing promises
it('should resolve with user data', () => {
  return fetchUser('123').then(user => {
    expect(user.id).toBe('123');
  });
});

// Testing rejection
it('should reject with error for invalid ID', async () => {
  await expect(fetchUser('invalid')).rejects.toThrow('User not found');
});

5. Test Coverage

bash

# JavaScript (Jest)
npm test -- --coverage

# Python (pytest with coverage)
pytest --cov=src --cov-report=html

# Java (Maven)
mvn test jacoco:report

Coverage Goals:

Statements: 80%+ covered
Branches: 75%+ covered
Functions: 85%+ covered
Lines: 80%+ covered

6. Testing Edge Cases

javascript

describe('Edge Cases', () => {
  it('should handle null input', () => {
    expect(processData(null)).toBeNull();
  });

  it('should handle undefined input', () => {
    expect(processData(undefined)).toBeUndefined();
  });

  it('should handle empty string', () => {
    expect(processData('')).toBe('');
  });

  it('should handle empty array', () => {
    expect(processData([])).toEqual([]);
  });

  it('should handle large numbers', () => {
    expect(calculate(Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER)).toBeDefined();
  });

  it('should handle special characters', () => {
    expect(sanitize('<script>alert("xss")</script>'))
      .toBe('&lt;script&gt;alert(&quot;xss&quot;)&lt;/script&gt;');
  });
});

Best Practices

✅ DO

Write tests before or alongside code (TDD)
Test one thing per test
Use descriptive test names
Follow AAA pattern
Test edge cases and error conditions
Keep tests isolated and independent
Use setup/teardown appropriately
Mock external dependencies
Aim for high coverage on critical paths
Make tests fast (< 10ms each)
Use parameterized tests for similar cases
Test public interfaces, not implementation

❌ DON'T

Test implementation details
Write tests that depend on each other
Ignore failing tests
Test third-party library code
Use real databases/APIs in unit tests
Make tests too complex
Skip edge cases
Forget to clean up resources
Test everything (focus on business logic)
Write flaky tests

Test Organization

src/
├── components/
│   ├── UserProfile.tsx
│   └── __tests__/
│       └── UserProfile.test.tsx
├── services/
│   ├── UserService.ts
│   └── __tests__/
│       ├── UserService.test.ts
│       └── fixtures/
│           └── users.json
└── utils/
    ├── validation.ts
    └── __tests__/
        └── validation.test.ts

Common Assertions

Jest

javascript

expect(value).toBe(expected);              // Strict equality
expect(value).toEqual(expected);           // Deep equality
expect(value).toBeTruthy();                // Truthy check
expect(value).toBeDefined();               // Not undefined
expect(value).toBeNull();                  // Null check
expect(value).toContain(item);             // Array/string contains
expect(value).toMatch(/pattern/);          // Regex match
expect(fn).toThrow(Error);                 // Throws error
expect(fn).toHaveBeenCalled();             // Mock called
expect(fn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(arg);      // Mock called with args

pytest

python

assert value == expected
assert value is True
assert value is not None
assert item in collection
assert pattern in string
with pytest.raises(Exception):
    risky_function()
assert mock.called
assert mock.call_count == 2

Example: Complete Test Suite

typescript

// user-service.test.ts
import { UserService } from './user-service';
import { Database } from './database';
import { EmailService } from './email-service';

// Mock dependencies
jest.mock('./database');
jest.mock('./email-service');

describe('UserService', () => {
  let userService: UserService;
  let mockDatabase: jest.Mocked<Database>;
  let mockEmailService: jest.Mocked<EmailService>;

  beforeEach(() => {
    mockDatabase = new Database() as jest.Mocked<Database>;
    mockEmailService = new EmailService() as jest.Mocked<EmailService>;
    userService = new UserService(mockDatabase, mockEmailService);
  });

  afterEach(() => {
    jest.clearAllMocks();
  });

  describe('createUser', () => {
    const validUserData = {
      email: 'john@example.com',
      firstName: 'John',
      lastName: 'Doe'
    };

    it('should create user successfully', async () => {
      // Arrange
      const savedUser = { id: '123', ...validUserData };
      mockDatabase.save.mockResolvedValue(savedUser);

      // Act
      const result = await userService.createUser(validUserData);

      // Assert
      expect(result).toEqual(savedUser);
      expect(mockDatabase.save).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
        expect.objectContaining(validUserData)
      );
      expect(mockEmailService.sendWelcomeEmail).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
        validUserData.email
      );
    });

    it('should throw ValidationError for invalid email', async () => {
      const invalidData = { ...validUserData, email: 'invalid' };

      await expect(userService.createUser(invalidData))
        .rejects
        .toThrow('Invalid email format');

      expect(mockDatabase.save).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
    });

    it('should handle database errors', async () => {
      mockDatabase.save.mockRejectedValue(new Error('DB Error'));

      await expect(userService.createUser(validUserData))
        .rejects
        .toThrow('Failed to create user');
    });

    it('should continue even if welcome email fails', async () => {
      const savedUser = { id: '123', ...validUserData };
      mockDatabase.save.mockResolvedValue(savedUser);
      mockEmailService.sendWelcomeEmail.mockRejectedValue(
        new Error('Email failed')
      );

      const result = await userService.createUser(validUserData);

      expect(result).toEqual(savedUser);
      // User still created even though email failed
    });
  });

  describe('getUserById', () => {
    it('should return user when found', async () => {
      const user = { id: '123', email: 'john@example.com' };
      mockDatabase.findById.mockResolvedValue(user);

      const result = await userService.getUserById('123');

      expect(result).toEqual(user);
    });

    it('should throw NotFoundError when user not found', async () => {
      mockDatabase.findById.mockResolvedValue(null);

      await expect(userService.getUserById('999'))
        .rejects
        .toThrow('User not found');
    });
  });
});

Resources

Jest: https://jestjs.io/docs/getting-started
pytest: https://docs.pytest.org/
JUnit 5: https://junit.org/junit5/docs/current/user-guide/
Mocha: https://mochajs.org/
RSpec: https://rspec.info/

unit-testing-framework

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Unit Testing Framework

Overview

When to Use

Instructions

1. Test Structure (AAA Pattern)

2. Test Cases by Language

JavaScript/TypeScript (Jest)

Python (pytest)

Java (JUnit 5)

3. Mocking & Test Doubles

Mock External Dependencies

Python Mocking

4. Testing Async Code

5. Test Coverage

6. Testing Edge Cases

Best Practices

✅ DO

❌ DON'T

Test Organization

Common Assertions

Jest

pytest

Example: Complete Test Suite

Resources