Patterns for introducing a superclass for test classes

Abstract

A test class is an isolated piece of software that is responsible for verifying the expected behavior of a class, a component or an application. Because test classes can be developed without consideration of good design, sometimes individual test classes might include redundant code or become large and unwieldy. This paper presents two patterns that propose the introduction of a common superclass for test classes in order to reduce code bulk, reuse more test code and achieve a better test organization.