Understanding how software testing works and what to test.

Posted by RHaguiuda on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by RHaguiuda
Published on 2010-06-17T20:43:27Z Indexed on 2010/06/17 21:03 UTC
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Filed under:

beginner

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unit-testing

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testing

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automated-tests

Intro:
I've seen lots of topics here on SO about software testing and other terms I don't understand.

Problem:
As a beginner developer I, unfortunately, have no idea how software testing works, not even how to test a simple function. This is a shame, but thats the truth. I also hope this question can help others beginners developers too.

Question:
Can you help me to understand this subject a little bit more?

Maybe some questions to start would help:

When I develop a function, how should I test it? For example: when working with a sum function, should I test every input value possible or just some limits? How about testing functions with strings as parameters?
In a big program, do I have to test every single piece of code of it? When you guys program do you test every code written?
How automated test works and how can I try one? How tools for automated testing works and what they do?
I`ve heard about unit testing. Can I have a brief explanation on this?
What is a testing framework?

If possible please post some code with examples to clarify the ideas.

Any help on this topic is very welcome! Thanks.

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