ABSTRACT
Two key aspects of extreme programming (XP) are unit testing and merciless refactoring. Given the fact that the ideal test code / production code ratio approaches 1:1, it is not surprising that unit tests are being refactored. We found that refactoring test code is different from refactoring production code in two ways: (1) there is a distinct set of bad smells involved, and (2) improving test code involves additional test-specific refactorings. To share our experiences with other XP practitioners, we describe a set of bad smells that indicate trouble in test code, and a collection of test refactorings to remove these smells.
http://homepages.cwi.nl/~leon/papers/xp2001/xp2001.pdf
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