CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sqltdd
Gugussee
Gugussee

Reputation: 1713

SQL: Is it possible to do TDD when working on SQL queries/views/etc.?

Being quite used to TDD in a Java environment I was wondering if TDD was also used when building SQL queries, creating views, etc.

If it is also used, how do people do it? You would need to create a lot of tiny DBs (for each unit test basically)?

I don't know if my question makes much sense but still: TDD is considered by quite some as the thing that changed the way they develop software and there definitely is development going on at the "SQL" level. So how does TDD and DB / SQL mix?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 608

Answers (2)

DanSingerman
DanSingerman

Reputation: 36502

In the Rails world, you have a dedicated test database which you build each time you run your test suite through migrations, and fixtures for prepopulating your database prior to running tests.

This makes TDD against a database entirely possible.

I think the main reason TDD is not used by database developers is more cultural than anything else.

Upvotes: 2

Mitch Wheat
Mitch Wheat

Reputation: 300489

I don't think it is as common in the Database world.

The question to ask is: "what am I testing here?"

It can be done as you suggest, or by starting a transaction, populating tables with guaranteed initial known states, running your code under test and then rollback. But ultimately these tests tend to be data centric and brittle to DB changes: one schema change could break alot of tests and create alot of work.

Upvotes: 0

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