JavaZone 2010 - Generating characterization tests for legacy code
A characterization test is a means to describe (characterize) the actual behaviour of an existing piece of software, and therefore protect existing behaviour of legacy code against unintended changes via automated testing.
In this talk I will share my experience from a project where we generated fast running characterization automatically from existing slow-running integration/end-to-end tests. The characterization tests helped us do a major redesign of a core calculation module in an insurance system without breaking existing functionality.
The talk will cover both the concept of characterization tests, as well as demonstrate an open source (.NET) framework for generating characterization tests for your application.
Jonas Follesø
Jonas is a passionate software craftsman working as a senior consultant at BEKK Consulting in Trondheim. After working with .NET for 9 years he has gained broad experience and in–depth knowledge of the .NET Framework, ASP.NET, WPF, Silverlight and the C# programming language.
Jonas has worked on several projects using various Microsoft technologies. Currently he is spending much of his time exploring design patterns, techniques and best practices for building rich client applications using technologies like Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight.
Jonas is an active member of- and contributor to the .NET developer community. He is an experienced speaker from both local user groups as well as larger industry events like TechEd, NDC, REMIX and MSDN Live. In 2006 Jonas was nominated Microsoft Regional Director for his contributions and involvement with the Microsoft developer community, and his Silverlight efforts was rewarded with a Microsoft MVP award in 2009.
He blogs regularly at http://jonas.follesoe.no and can be contacted at jonas@follesoe.no or on http://twitter.com/follesoe.