77: Testing Complex Systems with Maintainable Test Suites

Creating maintainable test suites for complex systems. The episode describes some complexities involved with hardware testing, then shares techniques for shifting complexity out of the test cases.

• quick overview of what test instruments are
• discussion of API and communication with instruments
• techniques for shifting complexity out of test cases

These techniques should apply to all test suites dealing with complex systems:

• Creating test cases that are easy to read and debug and tell a story about what is being tested.
• Pushing setup complexity into fixtures.
• Pushing lengthy repetitive API call sets into helper functions.
• Using stable, documented, interfaces.

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Links:

• Voltmeter
• Oscilloscope
• Spectrum analyzer
• Function generator
• Arbitrary waveform generator
• Wireless Communications Testers & Systems
• R&S CMW Platform
• SCPI - Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments
• VISA - Virtual instrument software architecture
• PyVISA: Control your instruments with Python
• pytest
• pytest book