software design

This is the work of an expert on the subject. Made as simple as possible, but no simpler. It covers what to test and how to test. More than just using the JUnit tool, it explains how you can safely and repetitively test difficult classes that perform updates deletes or handle volitile data. Covers testing with Cactus, Servlets, JSP's, EJB's and stand-alone console programs. Everything you need to get the job done with style and quality.

I finally had the opportunity to read Vince's finished product and I am impressed at how he and Ted managed to find the balance between an easy-to-follow overview and the necessary technical depth to understand JUnit more fully. Most books only do one or the other (if that).

Whether you are brand new to JUnit or have some experience and are looking for good practices, JUnit in Action is for you. On a first reading you can concentrate on the first few chapters and all the diagrams; then after some practice, you can return to the remaining chapters and learn JUnit in increasing depth.

This book describes a number of different ways to use JUnit to tackle specific problems in testing both plain Java code and J2EE code, a theme which I have taken further in JUnit Recipes (I couldn't resist the plug -- sorry about that), making "in Action" an excellent prelude to "Recipes". Of course, we hope you'll buy and enjoy both. Vince's early drafts even motivated me to learn more about Cactus and now it is an important part of my J2EE testing arsenal.

I will use Vince's book as a primary reference whenever I teach a course on Java, J2EE programming or Test-Driven Development.

This is a strong book on a worthy topic. It's short but that doesn't stop it from covering the topic well. The authors just stay on track and cover the required material in a brief and balanced manner.

On the down side there could have been more context about JUnit and it's alternatives. The first chapter covers this somewhat but after that it is JUnit all the way.

On the upside, the book is well written and edited. It is concise and sometimes witty but not to the level of going off track.

The interesting chapters:

Chapter one introduces JUnit and shows some alternatives, mainly doing tests by hand.

Chapter two covers JUnit completely in detail. Which is almost a bit too much too fast and I found myself a little lost in the detail. It could stand to be broken up a little.

Chapter four is an excellent introduction to test driven development. This section alone is almost worth the price of the book.

Chapter five covers integrating JUnit into existing tools like Ant and Eclipse.

The second part then applies JUnit to each of a number of different types of code, including web pages, tag libraries, data access, etc. This is the heart of the matter and it's done very well. This connects the code you have to the JUnit test framework step by step. It's very well done.

If you are using JUnit or are interested in test driven development in Java this is a fantastic book and is well worth the money.

(Full disclosure: I am a Manning author but I in no way allow that to effect my reviews.)