Pragmatic Unit Testing – A Review

Pragmatic Unit Testing, by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas (The Pragmatic Programmers), is just the kind of software book I like: short, concise, laser-focussed on one topic. That topic, apparently, is unit testing with a pragmatic bent. There are two versions of the book: 1) In C# with NUnit; and 2) In Java with JUnit. I read the C# version, natch.

Ever since reading Coder To Developer and Test-Driven Development in Microsoft.NET, I’ve been a huge proponent of TDD to anyone who will listen. I’ve found my code to be easier to use, easier to debug, and hella solid, as the kids say, since starting TDD. So I didn’t think Pragmatic Unit Testing would provide anything new for me. In large part, I was right: nothing new. Whatever wasn’t covered by the above two books, I had already learned through experience. However, the book articulates the power of Unit Testing and TDD very well; better than I ever could at any rate. It reinforced what I already knew.

At around 150 pages, it’s a very quick read. The book is written in a conversational tone; written as though you had the brilliant idea to hire the Pragmatic Programmers for an afternoon to explain the power of Unit Testing and this was what they presented to you. I’d recommend this book be mandatory for all new hires at your company if you practice unit testing. Consequently, it should be mandatory reading for you if you don’t. I have a suspicion that I’ll be refering to this book every year or so to confirm I haven’t strayed to far from pragmatic unit testing.

Recommended.