1. Bro, manage your test data
like a pro!
Mikalai Alimenkou
@xpinjection
http://xpinjection.com

3. Telegram channel
https://t.me/xpinjection_channel

4. Test
Data
Application
Driver
Test
Logic
Test components

5. Try to avoid
dependent tests
to improve
stability and
speed

6. Data independency as performance driver
• Most dependencies are data related
• Dependent tests = no parallel execution
• Data should be test specific with no reuse
• Use small focused datasets

7. Regular system example
SYSTEM
DB
QUEUE
UI
API
EXTERNAL
SERVICES
API CONTRACTS

8. If you have user
interface, then
you can use it for
testing

9. #1. Prepare test data using UI
SYSTEM
DB
QUEUE
UI
API
EXTERNAL
SERVICES
API CONTRACTS
#1. UI

10. Data Registry

11. Easiest approach to start with
Blackbox solution
Clear and simple
Unstable
Too long
Failures chaining

12. If UI is unreliable,
you can switch to
API level

13. #2. Data insertion via API
SYSTEM
DB
QUEUE
UI
API
EXTERNAL
SERVICES
API CONTRACTS
#2. API

14. Reuse existing API for tests
Data oriented
Much quicker
Require clear API
Greybox
Coding skills
Existing tools

15. If you have data,
put it in the
database

16. #3. SQL for direct data insertion to DB
SYSTEM
DB
QUEUE
UI
API
EXTERNAL
SERVICES
API CONTRACTS
#3. SQL

17. Unit/integration tests

18. Use internal system knowledge
Flexibility
Quickest way
Whitebox
Support and sync
Too verbose
Direct data access
Caching

19. #4. Datasets with optional commit
SYSTEM
DB
QUEUE
UI
API
EXTERNAL
SERVICES
API CONTRACTS
#4. DBUnit

20. Unit/integration tests

21. API/System level tests

22. The same approach for NoSQL

23. Managed or embedded NoSQL storage

24. Additional level of data abstraction
Great tools around DBUnit
Suitable format
Whitebox
Support and sync
Small datasets
Caching
Flexible constraints

25. #5. Versioned DUMPs
SYSTEM
DB
QUEUE
UI
API
EXTERNAL
SERVICES
API CONTRACTS
#5. DUMPs

26. Support DUMPs for different suites
/serviceA/dump/smoke/v50/data.tar.gz
/serviceA/dump/smoke/v51/data.tar.gz
/serviceA/schema/v51/db.jar
/serviceA/dump/regression/v50/data.tar.gz
/serviceA/dump/regression/v51/data.tar.gz

27. Wrap DUMPs in Docker images

28. DB Object Pools
• DB instance
• Heavy domain objects
• Available data roots

29. Version your test data with schema
Direct data access
Quick
Unclear
Required skills
DUMP preparation via UI
Infrastructure support
Artifact repository

30. If your live system
produces data, it
can be used for
testing

31. #6. Production data DUMP
SYSTEM
DB
QUEUE
UI
API
EXTERNAL
SERVICES
API CONTRACTS
#6. LIVE DATA

32. Real data is always better for testing
Live data
No preparation
Large
Permissions
More realistic cases
Security

33. Summary
• Use UI for test data if the system is black box for you
• Speed up you test data management with API calls
• Put data directly in DB if system is white box for you
• Actively use Docker to prepare test DB images
• Reuse live data if possible for complex systems
• Mix approaches to fill test DB and store dumps to build
Docker images
• Be happy unicorn in the rainbow world ;)

35. It is not an easy
task to create
reliable tests, try
hard and know
your tools

36. @xpinjection
http://xpinjection.com
mikalai.alimenkou@xpinjection.com