Unit, integration testing first steps toward SOA quality

Unit, integration testing first steps toward SOA quality

SOA -- Unit & integration testing
SOA promotes reuse at the service level rather than at the code/objects level. If you think of each component truly as a service, then there are internal aspects (data and process) and external facing (interface) aspects of the service that need to be tested.
It is convenient to think of the internal aspects of the service in terms of unit testing and to think of testing interface relationships with immediate service partners in terms of integration. It should be noted that unit and integration testing is often ignored or given minimal attention in traditional development environments -- the assumption being that downstream testing will catch any errors before the product reaches production. That is not the case in the world of SOA, where the eventual applications of a service could and often are beyond the control of the development group. Demonstrated adherence to the service design and interface specification is one way to reduce the impact of unexpected downstream implementations of the service.