Testing Pyramid Makes Little Sense, What We Can Use Instead
summary
Argues the testing pyramid is obsolete and replaces it with a concrete testing matrix that scores actual effort (install write debug maintain) against delivered confidence using t-shirt sizes, not percentages. Compares tools: Jest+Enzyme vs React Testing Library, snapshot and visual testing, Cypress (screenshots videos retries) and cloud recorders like mabl, showing tradeoffs in installation time, debugging speed and long‑term maintenance. Recommends iterating per feature, moving toward green cells of high confidence low effort.
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chapters (22)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:20Testing Pyramid Makes Little Sense
- 1:21The original pyramid
- 2:13The Pyramid transforms
- 2:30The core idea remains
- 2:44Challenging the pyramid
- 4:45Testing Pyramid with holes?
- 5:20Find the differences
- 6:42Lower level tests require a small effort
- 8:10Testing Tools Effort Simulator
- 9:57No automated tests
- 10:41Jest Snapshots
- 10:59Visual Snapshots
- 12:29MABL
- 15:20Any testing level "recipe" has 2 problems
- 17:44The Testing Matrix Optimize for maximum confidence at minimum effort
- 21:05Feature Iterations: Planning
- 21:37Feature Iterations Coding / Testing
- 23:13Feature Iterations: Deploying
- 24:38Feature Iterations. Maintenance
- 25:43The Testing Matrix Helps refine the testing strategy through iteration
- 26:31In Summary
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