Distributed test agents: a pattern for the development of automatic system tests for distributed applications

Abstract

This paper presents a test pattern for developing automated system tests for distributed applications. System tests are those intended to test the whole, completely integrated application. Developing such tests is hard because it demands the probing and analysis of data from distributed objects that sometimes present asynchronous operations. The Distributed Test Agents pattern is intended to guide the testers in the development of automated system tests for distributed applications. During the development of the tests, testers can abstract several details regarding the configuration of the distributed components and they can use and access these components in a simple and synchronous way.