Test cases are no longer crafted nor unique
26 Mar 2026
In this moment:
Jesper Ottosen
I was just at a test tool demo today, and I had a moment.
Test cases are no longer carefully crafted and unique, they are generated.
Test cases are no longer an atomic unit of measure (if it ever was).
Given source code, system specs or even a one-liner, test scripts can be generated.
in vast numbers both positive and negative.
But we have been here before, so it isn't that unexpected. It was the same with services and environments. I even wrote about it 2021, expanding that we can see "darlings, pets, cattle and GUID's". Back then I wrote: We do need the darling solutions for the things that sets you uniquely apart and for the unknown of the new incoming features. We need the cattle, structure and standards for factory solutions and stable operations. Not the other way around!
Yet, we can have all the tests generated, and still missing proving sustainable value to the business. We could use tools to generate all the tests and even all the texts in the documents. Yet something profound would be missing – the socializing and alignment that generates the and identifies the tests.
Time to build windmills, not fences
Test cases are no longer carefully crafted and unique, they are generated.
Test cases are no longer an atomic unit of measure (if it ever was).
Given source code, system specs or even a one-liner, test scripts can be generated.
in vast numbers both positive and negative.
But we have been here before, so it isn't that unexpected. It was the same with services and environments. I even wrote about it 2021, expanding that we can see "darlings, pets, cattle and GUID's". Back then I wrote: We do need the darling solutions for the things that sets you uniquely apart and for the unknown of the new incoming features. We need the cattle, structure and standards for factory solutions and stable operations. Not the other way around!
Yet, we can have all the tests generated, and still missing proving sustainable value to the business. We could use tools to generate all the tests and even all the texts in the documents. Yet something profound would be missing – the socializing and alignment that generates the and identifies the tests.
Time to build windmills, not fences
Jesper Ottosen
Principal Consultant
him/his
Jesper has been around the MoT community from the start, frequently passing by the Club and Slack. For more than 10 years he has provided 300+ blogposts on all things testing. 🌻
Jesper Ottosen
trackback: https://www.o2sn.dk/2026/03/29/return-of-the-darlings-pets-cattle-and-guids/
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