.NET Testing Best Practices - Rob Richardson - NDC Oslo 2024

Use the Arrange-Act-Assert pattern to structure tests in a clear and consistent way

Favor dependency injection to make code more testable by allowing mocks and fakes to be injected for testing

Consider using enums instead of strings/magic values to make code more type-safe and reduce errors

Take advantage of testing frameworks like xUnit, Fluent Assertions and Moq to write cleaner and more maintainable tests

Integrate test results into CI/CD pipelines using standard formats like JUnit XML reports

Use test parameters and theories instead of multiple similar test methods to reduce test code duplication

Debug tests just like regular code to understand failures and validate test behavior

Extract interfaces and use mocks to isolate the system under test from its dependencies

Run tests automatically after builds to catch issues early

Write tests to both validate functionality and discover features/behaviors of the system

Make test names descriptive and follow consistent naming patterns to clearly identify what’s being tested

Refactor production code when needed to make it more testable, while using tests to ensure nothing breaks

Use tools like Fluent Assertions to write more readable and maintainable assertions