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by randomdata 917 days ago
> He may have coined the term but that does not mean he owns it.

Certainly not, but there is no redefinition that is anything more than gobbledygook. Look at the very definition you gave: That's not a unique or different way to write tests. It's not even a testing pattern in concept. That's just programming in general. It is not, for example, unusual for you to use an alternative database implementation (e.g. an in-memory database) during development where it is a suitable technical solution to a technical problem, even outside of an automated test environment. To frame it as some special unique kind of test is nonsensical.

If we can find a useful definition, by all means, but otherwise what's the point? There is no reason to desperately try to save it with meaningless words just because it is catchy.
1 comments
MoreQARespect 917 days ago
The definition I gave is the one people use. Hate or love it youre not going to change it to encompass end to end tests and neither will Kent Beck. It's too embedded.
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randomdata 917 days ago
> youre not going to change it

I might. I once called attention to the once prevailing definition of "microservices" also not saying anything. At the time I was treated like I had two heads, but sure enough now I see a sizeable portion (not all, yet...) of developers using the updated definition I suggested that actually communicates something. Word gets around.

Granted, in that case there was a better definition for people to latch onto. In this case, I see no use for the term 'unit test' at all. Practically speaking, all tests people write today are unit tests. 'Unit' adds no additional information that isn't already implied in 'test' alone and I cannot find anything within the realm of testing that needs additional differentiation not already captured by another term.

If nothing changes, so what? I couldn't care less about what someone else thinks. Calling attention to people parroting terms that are meaningless is entirely for my own amusement, not some bizarre effort to try and change someone else. That would be plain weird.

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