Most people I know put their unit tests in files that mirror the folder structure and filename of the actual class that is being tested. So if I have app/models/order.rb, I’ll have spec/models/order_spec.rb. The tests in the order_spec.rb file will test the code in the order.rb file. Every project I have been on, whether Ruby or .NET, has done it this way.

But have you ever thought about why we do it this way?

We do it this way on our project and I keep running into two problems. The first problem is when I am about to modify some existing code and I want to know what tests will test that portion of the code. The first place I look is the corresponding test file (based on the folder structure or filename), but that doesn’t always give me all of the tests for that functionality.

The second problem is when I refactor some existing code and the refactoring spans multiple classes. Now I have broken tests all over the place and it’s hard to reconstruct the tests so that they test the same business concepts that they were testing before. Often times the tests were testing a portion of the system of classes that I am refactoring, but were not as encompassing as they should’ve been.

Here’s the thing — when I write tests, I’m typically using the Given/When/Then style of writing tests, even in unit tests using frameworks like RSpec. I’ll have test code that looks like this:

describe "When completing an order" do
  it "should set the status to In Process" do
     # test code here
  end
end

That code tests functionality having to do with orders and is going to help me ensure that my code performs some business function correctly. But if you look at that code snippet, you don’t know what classes I’m testing. Yeah I know, it’s just an example and I left out those details. But the point is that it doesn’t matter what classes I’m testing. What matters is that my tests are testing that my code performs a certain business function.

That being said, why are we grouping our tests by file? Wouldn’t it make much more sense to group our tests by business function instead?

I already have ways to find tests for a given class. I can search my code for the class name, or if I’m in .NET I can do Find Usages and have a little window pop up that tells me everywhere a class (or method) is used.

If my classes were grouped in folders by business function instead, I get the following benefits:

• I can see what tests exist for a given business function
• It encourages me to write tests that test business functionality, not test data structures (classes, methods, etc.)
• I can put all kinds of tests in there (unit tests, Cucumber tests, even manual test plans) — all in one place, all checked into source control
• My tests document business functionality instead of documenting a class

Remember, code constructs like classes and methods are just a means to an end, our goal is to write software that provides business value and performs specific functions. So I might as well organize my tests accordingly.

(Disclaimer: I have never actually tried organizing tests this way. It makes sense to me and I think it would work great, but I might try it and find out that it doesn’t work. But if anything, maybe I’ll start a good discussion.)

DISCLAIMER: Nothing said in this post should be taken as a reflection of my relationship with any of my employers or clients, current or in the past. Thankfully the ones I’ve had have been pretty good.

How do you view your relationship with your employer? More specifically, what is your response to your employer’s requests and demands?

I feel that many people view the relationship with their employer like a sort of indentured servitude where you also collect a paycheck. When I say that, I don’t mean that in a negative way, because most people don’t think of their manager or employer in a bad light. But I feel that most employees feel like they should do whatever their employer asks them do without raising a fuss (unless something they are asked to do is unethical). Again, I’ve thought this way in the past, and I never really thought of my employers negatively (in fact, I really liked them).

The Business Of You

Today I would argue that this is not the correct way for you as an employee to view this relationship in most cases. (Yes, I am an independent consultant, so I don’t really have an employer, but I still work for and report to clients.)

Business have all kinds of relationships without outside vendors. For example, a business may have preferred hardware vendors, vendors that provide hosting services, vendors that provide janitorial services, and so on. These relationships are all mutually beneficial partnerships, where each side of the partnership has something to gain from the relationship. Businesses also have partnerships with software developers like you.

Whether you think of it this way or not, you are running a business. Your business sells your software development services. You have a business plan, goals, a balance sheet, and things that you value (you might not have these things written out, but you still have them). Your values for your business might be to make a certain amount of money, to work using a technology you enjoy, to feel like you’re making an impact on the company you work for, have time for whatever hobbies you like to do, and have ample time to spend with your family. Your family is also a part of your business because they are something that you value, and what happens at your place of work affects them too (either directly because you’re gone at work or indirectly because you’re stressed out when you get home).

I think you might view your relationship with your employer differently when you view it as a partnership between businesses. Businesses and vendors negotiate all the time on any number of issues (and not always related to money). If you think of it this way, instead of your employer unilaterally deciding the path for your business, it should be something that you both agree upon that is mutually beneficial for both sides.

Protect Your Business Interests

Like I said, I’ve had the good fortune of working for good people throughout my career, but unfortunately there are employers and managers out there who will try to coerce you into do things that are not in your best interest. For example, maybe you’re heard things like these from your manager:

• “We have a lot to get done this release and we can’t afford to hire anyone else right now, so you all are going to have to work a little extra to get this done.”
• “I know that I told you to build the feature that way, but actually it needs to work this way… but I still need it done by the same date.”
• (a few days before a release) “This feature just came up and we really need to get this in, I’m going to need you all to stay late to get this done.”

Overtime, while not ideal, is a part of what we do. There are going to be deadlines, server outages, and things like that. But there’s a difference between normal overtime (server outages happen and someone needs to fix them) and someone taking advantage of you either for their own benefit or because they don’t have the guts to say no to their superiors.

Every situation is different, and maybe you’re OK with these sorts of requests. Maybe you get paid overtime and you like the extra money. Maybe you are willing to go the extra mile to get ahead or get a promotion, or maybe you don’t have many other job opportunities out there so you have to stay and deal with it. Maybe you’re in a job where overtime is expected and you knew that going in.

The important thing is to think of your career like a business. If you’re employer is trying to get you do something that isn’t good for you, don’t just sit there and let their decisions drive your business. This also applies if you want to work with a certain technology or skill set and your company doesn’t have that kind of work for you. Be willing to say no, or even be willing to go find another job. Your career should be something that benefits you and benefits the people that you work for, and as soon as one side isn’t getting any benefit, then something needs to be done.

I spent my lunch hour at the Path to Agility conference talking with a friend of mine who is in the middle of trying to get his team to embrace some agile practices, particularly around automated testing. Some of the changes that he’s trying to implement are causing some friction with the team who are not embracing the change.

People not wanting to change is nothing new. But what is the reason behind that unwillingness? It’s real easy to blame the team members and just say that they don’t care, they’re lazy, they like technology X instead of the new thing, etc.

Instead of just blaming others, maybe we should look at how we (as the change facilitators) are helping to create a desire to change and an awareness that there is even a need for change. If you’ve been doing your job a certain way for the last 10 years at the same company and you’ve been getting praised for your work or getting good performance reviews and raises, why should you change? After all, your company has been telling you that you have been doing an exceptional job. And now you’re being told that the way that you’ve been doing it is wrong?

This is what makes situations like this particularly challenging. Before we can even expect people to change, we need to show them that although they have been doing a good job in the past, we have an idea of how they can do their job even better. For some teams, having 50 bugs in production each month might seem good to them if last year they had 80 bugs in production each month, when for some teams having 5 bugs a month in production is a lot.

Unfortunately there is no easy answer to this problem. In fact, I can’t even say that I really know how to effectively handle these things. What I am learning is that the people side of software development is probably the most difficult part, and it’s probably where we all need the most work.