What kind of tests should be conducted for 1-person app development?

"The cart shouldn't be bigger than the horse. In other words, if it takes longer to write tests, it's pointless."

The Story of Test Writing

Before releasing the app, I plan to conduct some basic test code. Since it's essentially automating testing, I think it's a good idea to write it now rather than facing the consequences later.

First, my test priorities are:

Manual Testing > Integration Testing (Provider only) > Unit Testing > Widget, Integration Testing

1. Just Manual Testing

"Just having a human do it is the answer."

First, I'm going to skim through the user flow while conducting integration tests. Since we'll have passed a test at least once, shouldn't that be okay?

2. Unit Testing

"Just testing if the smallest components work correctly."

Since there's no chance of someone else merging code (because it's a solo development), the priority is a bit lower than I thought. I plan to check if it runs roughly, release it, and then write unit tests. If it runs, I've finished development, right? Unless there's an update or something added, the chances of bugs are low for now.

3. Integration Testing

"Essentially provider testing. Let's focus on this."

In my app, I think it's essentially a provider check. I don't have time to rewrite everything, and since most of the flow is handled by Riverpod, I think just doing this will significantly reduce the number of bugs. That's my thought.

4. Integration and Widget Testing

"It's important, but... it'll take forever."

User flow verification and widget testing are extremely important. But there's a problem... writing them takes an incredible amount of time. It's difficult to check all the branches, and it's virtually impossible to write them all. And it's not like testing them guarantees 100% safety. That's why I think the cost-effectiveness is quite low. I think we can test the provider through integration testing, and if there are any issues, we can notify the user or something like that... and update those parts as needed.

My Thoughts

Essentially, testing is the same as automation. It's a great way to save time by automating the things that humans would have to test one by one.

Since time is money, I need to develop the urgent things quickly, release them quickly, and expedite the release date.

About the Developer

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlienApp
Email: slugj2020@gmail.com