Android App Development: Types of Automated Unit Tests

Published on: 11/10/2022 | Updated on: October 24, 2024

Both a team of automation testing android and Android developers are capable of using a variety of testing approaches. Whether creating websites or mobile apps, automated unit testing is essential. Every Android mobile app development project must start with automated unit tests for mobile apps.

What is unit testing?

A piece of code called a unit test, typically created by developers, tests the functionality of a function or class. Testers carry out these tests using virtual items to emulate the anticipated real-world user input. The values on which the QA specialists run the tests have already been decided.

Unit testing aims to identify as many faults as possible at an extremely early stage of development and automate the test process for each change in the system’s code. This makes the developing team the primary stakeholder in creating functional software that will only advance to the next QA level after being fully operational.

What is Automated Unit Testing?

Automated unit testing eliminates the need for human intervention in the unit testing process, not from the side of creation, which humans still do, but from the execution side. Scripts (Bash, PowerShell, and Tcl/Tk/Expects), programmable testing environments (Visual Test, TestTrack), and sometimes custom code are used to perform unit tests.

The advantages of automated unit tests

Facilitates Agile Process

Unit testing has several advantages, one of which is that it makes code more agile. It’s hazardous and expensive to modify tested code. Sometimes it becomes necessary to alter the existing design and code of software as more features are added. We can comfortably move forward with refactoring if we have unit tests in place.

Coding Standards

Code quality is raised by unit testing. Writing tests before actual coding forces you to consider the issue more carefully. It makes you develop better code by exposing the edge cases.

Early Software Bug Discovery

Problems are discovered early on. Since developers test each piece of code individually before integrating it, problems may be identified early and fixed without affecting other parts of the code. This covers errors in the unit’s definition and the programmer’s implementation issues.

Lower costs

Unit testing aids in lowering the price of bug repairs because bugs are discovered early. Consider the expense if a bug was found during acceptance or system testing, which are later stages of development. Of course, bugs found earlier are simpler to fix because bugs found later are frequently the result of numerous changes, and it can be challenging to determine which one specifically caused the bug.

Debugging Method

Unit testing can significantly streamline the debugging process. Only the most recent code modifications must be debugged if a specific test fails.

Types of android apps testing in Android Mobile App Development

The following is a description of the actual testing kinds you should be aware of when creating a comprehensive test suite:

Unit testing

Typically, we write Java code that requires a JVM to execute when developing for Android. Implement your test on a local machine when your test code has no dependencies, simple dependencies, or when you can mimic the requirements of the Android framework. This testing approach is efficient because it spares you the hassle of loading the target app and unit test code and avoids the time and labor of running your tests repeatedly on a physical device or emulator.

1.    Local unit testing
Locally executed unit tests for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). When your tests don’t depend on the Android framework or when you can mock the dependencies, use these tests to reduce execution time.

2.    Instrumented unit tests
Unit tests that execute on an emulator or an Android smartphone. These tests have access to instrumentation data, including the app’s context, among other things. Use these tests when your tests have Android dependencies that mock objects cannot satisfy.

Integration Testing

Integration tests for Android development come in the two categories listed below:

1.    Components within your app only
When a user engages in a specific action or submits a particular input in one of the target app’s activities, this test confirms that the target app behaves as anticipated. For instance, it enables you to verify that the target app responds to user inputs in the app’s activities with the proper UI output. You may programmatically replicate user activities and evaluate intricate intra-app user interactions with UI testing frameworks like Espresso.

2.    Components used across apps
This type of test confirms the proper operation of interactions between various user apps or between user apps and system apps. You might want to check that your app responds appropriately when a user takes specific action in the Android Settings menu, for instance. You can develop tests for such scenarios using UI testing frameworks that support cross-app interactions, like Headspin, which helps AI-based Insights for Enterprises.

Best Practices

Consider the following ideas to write the best code possible for this testing:

Code must be robust:

If the code is flawed, there are times when the test fails or, in the worst-case scenario, never runs at all.

Reasonable and understandable

The code needs to be simple to comprehend. This makes it simple for the developer to write the code, and it also makes it simple for other developers to debug the code who will go on to work on it in the future.

Should only be one case:

Working with tests that define numerous cases in one is challenging. As a result, it is recommended to write single-case code because it is simpler to comprehend and debug.

Arrange, Act, and Assert (AAA)

A suggested method for organizing unit tests is the AAA protocol. It’s also known as the “Given/When/Then” protocol or AAA. By providing your test with a logical flow, it becomes easier to read, which is a solid practice for unit testing.

The steps listed below can help you structure your unit tests using the AAA protocol:

• Arrange: Plan the test’s initialization and setup.
• Act: Act in the assigned unit for the test.
• Assert: Assert or verify the outcome

Conclusion

Automated unit tests are tremendously helpful and straightforward to implement if your code is organized. Unit tests are an extremely effective technique for helping developers prevent issues and quickly identify them when they do. They assist you in maintaining your code, but they also require upkeep. Tests no one uses are a significant issue in many projects, and you must follow the best practices for android automation testing to prevent it.