Why You Should Test Your Software

Automated software testing is so normal, so ordinary, and has been around so long, that I sometimes forget that a lot of places don’t do it.

If you are in a software group that does not do automated testing, then I have a suggestion for you: start testing today.

What is Testing?

Testing means automated tests which exercise the code base.

Tests are simply programs that run other programs, to make sure they handle different inputs in the correct way.

Human-based testing is better than no testing, but if that is what you are doing, you need to start adding automated testing. Today.

Why Test?

Each software product is one-of-a-kind. If there was another piece of software that did what you needed, then you would use it. So if you are writing software, it is one-of-a-kind software. It is software that has never been written before and is like no other software in the world.

It is unique.

It is also very complex. If it were simple, you would be able to use general purpose software that already exists. If you can achieve your goals with a spreadsheet, a word processor, or some other piece of off the shelf software, then you would not be developing software.

Therefore if you are developing software, you are solving a complex problem, in a unique way.

Of course you need to test it!