Naming Tests

Using a consistent and meaningful naming strategy

A well-named test will help us quickly identify which test is failing and the area of the actual code that the problem might be in.

A well-named test will contain the following:

• What is being tested.
• The input to the thing being tested or the state of the thing being tested.
• The expected output or expected behavior.

It is helpful to have a naming convention for tests. This guarantees that the above aspects of a test are covered in the name. If the naming is consistent, we will very quickly understand the aspects of any test.

An example naming convention is as follows:

{thing being tested} should {expected output / behaviour} when {input / state}