Record method calls in one session for replaying in future test sessions?

Question

I have a backend system which we use a third-party Java API to access from our own applications. I can access the system as a normal user along with other users, but I do no

Answer 1

I had a similar problem some years ago. None of the above solutions would have worked for methods that are not pure functions (side effect free). The major task is in my opinion:

• how to extract a snapshot of the recorded object(s) (not only restricted to objects implementing Serializable)
• how to generate test code of a serialized representation in a readable way (not only restricted to beans, primitives and collections)

So I had to go my own way - with testrecorder.

For example, given:

ResultObject b = callBackend(a);

...

ResultObject callBackend(SourceObject source) {
  ...
}

you will only have to annotate the method like this:

@Recorded
ResultObject callBackend(SourceObject source) {
  ...
}

and start your application (the one that should be recorded) with the testrecorder agent. Testrecorder will manage all tasks for you, such as:

• serializing arguments, results, state of this, exceptions (complete object graph!)
• finding a readable representation for object construction and object matching
• generating a test from the serialized data
• you can extend recordings to global variables, input and output with annotations

An example for the test will look like this:

void testCallBackend() {
  //arrange
  SourceObject sourceObject1 = new SourceObject();
  sourceObject1.setState(...); // testrecorder can use setters but is not limited to them
  ... // setting up backend
  ... // setting up globals, mocking inputs

  //act
  ResultObject resultObject1 = backend.callBackend(sourceObject1);

  //assert
  assertThat(resultObject, new GenericMatcher() {
    ... // property matchers
  }.matching(ResultObject.class));
  ... // assertions on backend and sourceObject1 for potential side effects
  ... // assertions on outputs and globals
}