Developer Blog Banter - How do you test your applications?

David started a nice article series: The developer banter - this time about testing

"How do you organise your tests. Do you separate your unit tests, integration tests and UI tests into separate projects?
Do you do anything specific to keep track of your tests?
What naming conventions do you use? Do you run them before a check in or is that what the build server is for?"

Why are *automated tests* so important?

*Updated* 4 November 2010: Added another reason for writing tests: Documentation


Reasons why you should write *tests* in the first place

  1. You get a bug report and want to proof when the bug is fixed
    This is a good practice before fixing bugs
  2. You implement a new feature and write a test beforehand to see when the new feature is done
  3. You want prevent regression
    Changes in your code will break other code. So you have a test around it to know if everything is still green (=OK)
    As an agile developer you change code all the time, either because
    1. You do TDD
    2. You follow the Boy scout rule (Leave the campground cleaner than you found it) and refactor your code
    3. Your client/customer changes his mind (which is even more likely)
  4. Documentation goes out of date sooner or later. Tests document how the system works and additionally they are executable

SSRS - QA from the BI class

Q1: Where do i get help for the expression syntax in the report designer?
Q2: How can I create a report template, so that I don't have to start from a blank report each time?
Q3: Is it possible to skin the Report server Website? I can make an asp.net page, but I think the Report Server page is probably adequate. Probably the better option is to use report services in Sharepoint?

SSIS and SSRS - QA from the BI class

Q
SSIS can export data into excel files, and SSRS can also do this. Which way is better / more appropriate in which circumstances?

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