Glossary of Unit Testing and Related Terms
Learn the most important unit testing terms used in the software engineering industry.
We'll cover the following...
Introduction
In this lesson, you’ll learn the most important unit testing terms used in the software engineering industry. Furthermore, you’ll learn some broader terms that relate to unit testing. For example, although dependency injection is not a concept unique to unit testing, it is relevant because it makes unit testing easier. These various terms have been covered in detail throughout the course lessons and are outlined in this lesson.
Unit test terms
The following are the most common terms found in unit testing. The following outlines the name and definition of each term. There are sometimes various other names for the terms presented below. In such a case, we’ll include these terms as well.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Software testing | Software testing is the process of verifying that software does what it is intended to do. |
| Test case | A test case is a set of operations that a system is set to perform to determine whether the system satisfies the requirements and whether it functions correctly. |
| Manual testing | Manual testing is a type of software testing where a person manually executes test cases without using any automation tools. |
| Tester | The person who executes manual tests is known as a tester and can be the developer or another member of the team, such as a dedicated tester. |
| Software regression | Software regression is the term used to describe a scenario where, due to the introduction of a bug, a feature that is working in a given release stops working in the next release. |
| Feature addition | A feature addition is a code change that adds a piece of software functionality. |
| Software bug | A software bug, otherwise known as a bug, defect, or issue is an erroneous execution that causes the software’s behavior to diverge from its expected performance (as required by the end user) and is usually introduced due to an error during the software development lifecycle. |
| Refactoring | Refactoring is the act of improving the structure of the software’s source code while continuing to meet the original specifications. |
| Optimization | Optimization is the act of changing software to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of resource utilization. |