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The testing pyramid is an outdated economic model


The testing pyramid made a lot of sense when it conceived - but this is no longer the case.

It sets out a three-stage process, with broad, basic unit tests at the bottom covering individual code functions or components, which are fast, cheap, and easily automated. Finally, the pinnacle of the structure covers E2E (end-to-end) testing that validates the entire application and simulates user scenarios to ensure the system behaves correctly in real-world workflows. This simple framework hides hidden complexity because the cost of each test includes a variety of metrics such as the effort to write and maintain code, how long it takes to run, the time taken to identify root-cause failure, and its resilience to refactoring without causing further problems.

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