A while back Michael Feathers wrote a short post about optimizing unit tests. In it he gives a list traits that prevent something from being a true unit test.
When trying to convert non-testers, I often use a reverse version of Michael’s list to help explain what is a unit test. So here’s the same list with a positive spin:
A test is a unit test if :
- It doesn’t talk to the database
- It doesn’t communicates across the network
- It doesn’t touch the file system
- It can be run at the same time as any of your other unit tests
- You don’t have to do special things to your environment (such as editing config files) to run it.
