--- title: Should testers write unit tests? | daily.dev description: An opinion piece exploring whether testers should write unit tests, arguing that testers should not be responsible for writing them since unit testing is... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/should-testers-write-unit-tests--djxyawoya twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Should testers write unit tests? | daily.dev og:description: An opinion piece exploring whether testers should write unit tests, arguing that testers should not be responsible for writing them since unit testing is... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/should-testers-write-unit-tests--djxyawoya og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/DJxYaWOYA.png og:image:alt: Should testers write unit tests? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Should testers write unit tests? **[On Test Automation](https://daily.dev/sources/ontestautomation)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An opinion piece exploring whether testers should write unit tests, arguing that testers should not be responsible for writing them since unit testing is fundamentally a development activity tied closely to writing the code itself. However, testers should be involved in the process by reviewing tests for coverage gaps, suggesting mutation testing, and pairing with developers to improve overall test quality. The same reasoning is said to apply to integration, end-to-end, performance, and security tests as well. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Should testers be responsible for writing unit tests or just involved in the process? Testers should not be responsible for writing unit tests, since that work should happen in lockstep with development rather than as a handoff after code is written. However, testers should be involved by reviewing tests for coverage gaps, giving feedback to developers, and using techniques like mutation testing to check whether existing tests catch meaningful problems. _Teams debating who owns unit testing responsibilities can find more testing strategy perspectives on daily.dev._ ### Why is it inefficient for testers to write unit tests after developers finish the code? Writing unit tests after the product code is already built creates a handoff between development and testing that wastes time, since the developer switches to a different task and must context-switch back if a problem is found. It also risks developers not designing testable code up front, since they were not thinking about test coverage while writing it. _Developers weighing test-driven workflows against post-hoc testing can track these tradeoffs on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Unit tests mark territory more than squash bugs](https://daily.dev/posts/unit-tests-mark-territory-more-than-squash-bugs-tjmwlmfzx) · Lobsters · 0 upvotes · 1 comments - [Testing is software engineering](https://daily.dev/posts/testing-is-software-engineering-9un4ckzn6) · thoughbot · 129 upvotes · 6 comments - [To test, or not to Test? Part 1 – Why Test? And at what cost?](https://daily.dev/posts/to-test-or-not-to-test-part-1-why-test-and-at-what-cost--rpi5gqq7u) · We Are .NET · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#testing](https://daily.dev/tags/testing), [#tdd](https://daily.dev/tags/tdd) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/should-testers-write-unit-tests--djxyawoya) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Should testers write unit tests?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-testers-write-unit-tests--djxyawoya","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-testers-write-unit-tests--djxyawoya"},"datePublished":"2026-08-20T07:29:02.871Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T18:32:26.584Z","description":"An opinion piece exploring whether testers should write unit tests, arguing that testers should not be responsible for writing them since unit testing is...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d88a820b77348718eaaa0f94b50512c1?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d88a820b77348718eaaa0f94b50512c1?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"On Test Automation","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"On Test Automation","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/36af05811e284458a8836b8f46556a86","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ontestautomation"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-testers-write-unit-tests--djxyawoya","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"testing,tdd","timeRequired":"PT8M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On Test Automation","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ontestautomation"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Should testers write unit tests?"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/should-testers-write-unit-tests--djxyawoya#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Should testers be responsible for writing unit tests or just involved in the process?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Testers should not be responsible for writing unit tests, since that work should happen in lockstep with development rather than as a handoff after code is written. 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