Performing CRUD testing

The four fundamental data operations of stateful computing systems are as follows:

1. Create
2. Read
3. Update
4. Delete

These apply to any system with data storage, whether in a document or relational databases, text or binary files, or some other method. In all those cases, it is possible to create new records or write new data and then read it back for display or processing. You can update information that has already been written and, finally, delete it. Those operations apply to many systems, so you can use them to guide your testing.

The relative frequencies of those operations will depend on your system. Typical systems, however, will perform reads most of all, followed by updates, creations, and deletions. An HR database, for instance, will list users any time someone looks at the users page. A staff member might have their details updated occasionally after their creation, and while there are a positive number of user entries, creations...