The following are recommendation and options for representing this work product.
Recommendation: Automated Code Unit
The most appropriate technique for running these
tests is using code that tests the components fully
and that you can run regularly as
you update the system during development.
When code is the sole form of the tests, you
must take care to ensure that the code is self-documenting, including
specifications of what conditions you are testing and what setup or clean-up
is required for the test to run properly.
Option: Manual Instructions
In some cases, manual instructions can suffice. For example, when testing
a user interface, a Developer could walk through a script, explaining
the component. In this case, it can still be valuable to create a test harness
that goes straight to the user interface. That way,
the Developer can follow the script without having to walk through a complicated
set of instructions to get to a particular screen
or page.
Option: Embedded Code
Certain technologies (such as Java™ 5 Test Annotation) enable
you to embed tests in the implementation. In those cases, there
will be a logical work product, but it will be assimilated into the code that
you are testing. Here,
too, take into consideration that you must ensure that the code is self-documenting.
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