Creation of a Framework and a Corresponding Tool Enabling the Test-Driven Development of Microservices

Microservice architectures have emerged as counter design to traditional monolithic applications. While monoliths are single executable applications, microservice architectures consist of several smaller units. Advantages of microservice architectures are their development speed, lower costs of change, and dynamic scaling ability. However, this pattern requires an adaptation of quality assurance measures. In this research article, test-driven development is investigated in context of microservices that are developed according to established practices. Based on the systems development research methodology, recommendable practices and testing strategies are examined with a translation of that knowledge into an extensive artifact, enabling test-driven microservice development on local systems. Five design principles could be identified, including focusing small services, domain-driven design, striving for low-complexity networks, avoiding cyclic dependencies, and aiming for high connectivity performance. Integration, component, and contract tests could be integrated for automatic execution, showing that test-driven development for microservices is feasible, although with room for improvements.