Unit testing practices

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Guide to get started

Component	Description	Testing Strategy
Front-End	Built with React and Redux. It is responsible for the user interface and managing the application state.	Unit tests will be written for individual components and Redux actions/reducers. Tools like Jest and React Testing Library can be used.
Back-End	Built with Node.js and Express.js. It handles requests and responses between the client and the database.	Unit tests will be written for the routes and controllers. Tools like Mocha, Chai, or Jest can be used.
Database	MongoDB is used for data storage.	Tests will be written to ensure data is correctly saved and retrieved from the database. Mocking tools like Sinon.js can be used to mock the database during testing.
API	A RESTful API is used for communication between the front and back ends.	API endpoints will be tested to ensure they return the expected responses. Tools like Postman or Jest can be used for API testing.
Overall Application	The entire application, including front-end, back-end, and database.	Integration tests will be written to ensure different parts of the application work together as expected. End-to-end testing tools like Cypress can be used.

The team will be following Test-Driven Development (TDD) methodology, which means tests will be written before the functional code.

The goal is to write tests that define the functionality to be implemented. Once the tests are in place, the code will be written to make those tests pass. If all tests pass, then the code meets all the defined requirements.

The team lead has made it clear that pull requests without tests for code should be rejected, emphasizing the importance of testing in the project.

Add a comment below to improve on these ideas or raise questions on this topic.

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Here are some tips which may help you to find and eliminate the bugs. None of them is either ultimate or definitive. Use them flexibly and rely on your intuition. Don't believe yourself – check everything twice.

1. Rubber Duck Debugging: Try to tell someone (for example, your friend or coworker) what your code is expected to do and how it actually behaves. Be concrete and don't omit details. Answer all questions your helper asks. You'll likely realize the cause of the problem while telling your story, as speaking activates these parts of your brain which remain idle during coding. If no human can help you with the problem, use a yellow rubber duck instead. We're not kidding – consult the Wikipedia article to learn more about this commonly used technique: Rubber Duck Debugging.

2. Isolate the Problem: Try to isolate the problem. You can extract the part of your code that is suspected of being responsible for your troubles and run it separately. You can comment out parts of the code that obscure the problem. Assign concrete values to variables instead of reading them from the input. Test your functions by applying predictable argument values. Analyze the code carefully. Read it aloud.

3. Analyze Recent Changes: If the bug has appeared recently and didn't show up earlier, analyze all the changes you've introduced into your code – one of them may be the reason.

4. Take a Break: Take a break, drink a cup of coffee, take your dog for a walk, read a good book for a moment or two, make a phone call to your best friend – you'll be surprised how often it helps.

5. Be Optimistic: Be optimistic – you'll find the bug eventually; we promise you this.