CST 438 - Week 5

This week's reading focused Larger Testing. Tests are categorized by both size and scope. Small tests are limited to a single thread, process, and machine, while bigger tests don’t have those restrictions. Generally, larger tests can be slower and less isolated. Even though large tests can be harder to work with, they’re really important. Unit tests are great for checking if specific parts of your code work, but they don’t always catch everything. Large tests come with challenges—ownership of the test, having test data that is realistic, testing system configuration, and lack of standardization. Unlike unit tests, which are small and fast, large tests can involve multiple systems, use a lot of resources, and can sometimes behave unpredictably.

Part of what I learned this week included our work with React to implement a front-end for students, administrators and instructors. This was in combination with the REST APIs for Gradebook and Registrar that created the back-end, in the previous assignment.