Introduction To Test Api (P&P Summit)

Introduction to TestApi
Ivo Manolov
Test Manager
WPF
Microsoft

Sharing of {Test} Code is GOOD
Reduced duplication of effort
Higher code quality - through evolution
Lower maintenance costs
Deeper, more mature coverage
Etc, etc, etc(see your favorite book on reuse, patterns, etc.)

Sharing of Tests is TRICKY
Need to “adapt” tests to environment
Test environment dictates policy…
Discovery
Deployment / Distribution
Execution
Logging
Reporting
Result aggregation and reporting

Sharing of Tools is TRICKY
Small tools (command-line EXEs, etc) have challenges:
Deployment
Cleanup
Adaptation (of input / output)
Upgrades
SLAs
Large-scale tools and infrastructure have challenges:
High adoption cost
“Proprietary” stacks – extension may be tricky
“Hosting” costs
Deployment may be intrusive
Combining tool parts may not be supported

Well, what CAN we share?
Automated tests ARE programs
Programs CONSIST OF reusable blocks + domain-specific logic + configuration data.
We can share the blocks!

Enter TestApi…

TestApi is…
An API library
Provides data-structures and algorithms common to testing
Fully documented
Layered
Easy to deploy (xcopy)
Policy-free
It’s just a set of DLLs you link to
We have xUnit, NUnit, MSTEST samples
Licensed under Ms-PL (shared source)

TestApi is notgoing to…
tell you what a test is
tell you how to test
make a test pass/fail decision for you
tell you how to log
make implicit assumptions
integrate with your tools (VS, etc.)
retain execution state
VSTS will help you solve most of these problems!

A Lap Around TestApi

Package
http://codeplex.com/testapi
The ZIP contains…
Binaries
Sources
Documentation
Samples

Visual Verification API

Input Simulation API

Combinatorial Variation Generation API

Managed Code Fault Injection API

Other API & Future
Application Control API
Command-line Parsing API
Text String Generation API
Memory Leak Detection API
Object Comparison API
Fuzzing API
… and more
For a roadmap, see http://codeplex.com/testapi

In Closing…
TestApi enables rapid test development and code reuse at the building block level. Think of it as a testing SDK.
Democratic use of facilities – no strings attached. Combine with your favorite tool (VSTS, etc.)
Layered, decoupled
Public
Get engaged!
testapi@microsoft.com
ivom@microsoft.com