The Mother Hen

Definition:

• A common setup which does far more than the actual test cases need. For example creating all sorts of complex data structures populated with apparently important and unique values when the tests only assert for presence or absence of something.

Also Known As:

• Excessive Setup

References:

Quality attributes

• - Code Example

• - Cause and Effect

• - Frequency

• - Refactoring

• Categorising Test Smells

• Unit testing Anti-patterns catalogue