Ruby on Rails Testing Heuristics
Sep 8, 2022
Tests aren’t free. Every line of code has a cost. It takes time to write it, it takes time to update it, and it takes time to read and understand it.
Testing what’s useful takes nuance, experience, and dozens of fine-grained heuristics. Some heuristics that help to reduce the complexity and cost of tests in Ruby on Rails applications are the following:
- Don’t aim for 100% coverage. Code-to-test ratios above 1:2 is a smell.
- Don’t test standard[ActiveRecord associations, validations, or scopes.
- Reserve integration tests for issues arising from integrating separate elements.
- Don’t test first every controller, model, and view. Focus effort on testing where risk exists.
