Testing Strategy (Architecture-Level)
Testing strategy is the blueprint for validating that your system meets quality attributes (performance, reliability, maintainability, testability, usability). It encompasses unit tests, integration tests, contract tests, system tests, and acceptance tests—organized in a testing pyramid where many fast tests catch bugs early, fewer slow tests validate end-to-end behavior.
What you'll find here
Testing Pyramid — Organize tests by scope: unit, component, integration, contract, system, acceptance.
Non-Functional Testing — Performance, security, resilience, accessibility testing.
Test Automation — CI/CD integration, managing flakiness, test data fixtures.
Test Environments — Ephemeral environments, data seeding, production parity.
Testing Pyramid (Quick Reference)
▲
╱ ╲
╱ ╲ Acceptance & UAT
╱ ╲ (slow, high value)
╱───────╲
╱ ╲
╱ E2E/ ╲ System Tests
╱ Contract ╲ (slower, broad)
╱───────────────╲
╱ Integration ╲ Integration Tests
╱─────────────────╲ (fast, focused)
╱ Unit Tests ╲ (very fast, many)
╱───────────────────╲
Ideal ratio: 70% unit, 20% integration/contract, 10% system/acceptance.
How to use this section
- Design your pyramid — Define mix of unit, integration, system tests.
- Plan non-functional tests — Performance, security, resilience, accessibility.
- Automate in CI/CD — Gate deployments on test results.
- Manage test environments — Ephemeral, realistic, data privacy.
- Monitor test effectiveness — Track defect escape, false negatives.
🗃️ Testing Pyramid
5 items
🗃️ Non-Functional Testing
4 items
🗃️ Test Automation
3 items
🗃️ Test Environments
3 items
Key Principles
- Risk-based: Test what matters most (core business logic, failures).
- Fast feedback: Unit tests run in seconds; gate deployments on them.
- Deterministic: Tests pass/fail consistently, not randomly.
- Isolated: Each test independent; no cross-test dependencies.
- Maintainable: Clear test names; easy to understand purpose.
- Automated: Run on every commit; manual testing only where necessary.