Summary

Test data management sounds like the topic of a book you would read to help you get to sleep at night. It is not exciting. Yet actually knowing what to expect when a test runs is important. If we want to know what to expect, then we must predict what will be in permanent storage. This chapter discussed ways to know what is in permanent storage, such as having a standard set of data, making application setup scriptable, and creating test users in production. Other ways to get accurate test data include pulling data from production or managing the data that exists in development and test environments. Finally, we considered regulatory issues that might create additional challenges regarding test data. With this in hand, you should be able to create test plans that are immune to data corruption, failures due to tests aging out, and related problems. Not only that, but you will be able to identify problems with system architecture and test plans – and fix them.

With test...