How pure are you.....? (1)

The development of software is an investment. Similar to any other investment, there are investors. Return on investment (ROI) is what really matters for the investors. (Investment 101)!  ROI impact our pensions, lifestyle, and EVERYTHING in between.

I was told recently that there must only be a single Assert in a unit test method. Okay, absolutely I would agree in principal. The real question is, do we take this statement literally or in principal.

Consider the following code:

We can test the "GetResult" method with various inputs. From a purist point of view a typical test might look like below:

For each input we will need to ensure that the "dateTimeGetter" delegate is called. There are two tests one for checking the value and another for the date and time. Waste of time ( () => money => everything) if you ask me!

Instead we can write a single test to ensure that the correct value is returned together with the expected date and time.

I think we need to strike a balance when it comes to writing concise tests that make sense to the code reviewer. Just because someone wrote in a book, we must NOT take it on its face value.

I believe a developer must be pragmatic and add value to the business. The value should be tangible such as a new functionality so that business see progress.

The key to success in software development is to have well architectured, maintainable and readable code that meet the three pillars of the project. (Quality, Cost and time).