Introduction

Testing SQL databases is often overlooked, but it is just as important as testing application logic. Since databases hold critical business logic in stored procedures, views, and triggers, automating database testing can prevent data corruption, broken queries, and performance issues.

In this article, we’ll compare popular database testing frameworks:

• tSQLt – Unit testing for SQL Server
• DbUnit – Java-based database testing
• SQL Server Unit Testing – Built-in Microsoft SQL tools
• pgTAP – PostgreSQL testing framework
• Liquibase – Database version control and testing
• Flyway – Database migrations and rollback testing
• DbFit – FitNesse-based database testing

What is Database Testing?

Types of Database Tests

1. Schema Testing – Ensuring correct table structures, constraints, and indexes.
2. Stored Procedure Testing – Validating stored procedure logic and expected results.
3. View Testing – Making sure views return the correct aggregated data.
4. Performance Testing – Ensuring indexes and queries are optimized.
5. Migration Testing – Testing schema changes without breaking existing functionality.

Automated Database Testing

Instead of manually running SQL scripts, automated database testing tools help write, execute, and verify test cases.

Framework Comparison Table

Code Examples for Each Tool

tSQLt – Unit Testing for SQL Server

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EXEC tSQLt.NewTestClass 'TestSchema';

CREATE PROCEDURE TestSchema.[test AddCustomer]
AS
BEGIN
    EXEC tSQLt.FakeTable 'Customers';
    
    INSERT INTO Customers (Id, Name) VALUES (1, 'John Doe');

    DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR(50);
    SELECT @Name = Name FROM Customers WHERE Id = 1;

    EXEC tSQLt.AssertEquals 'John Doe', @Name;
END;

DbUnit – Java-Based Database Testing

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IDatabaseTester databaseTester = new JdbcDatabaseTester("org.h2.Driver", "jdbc:h2:mem:testdb", "sa", "");
IDataSet dataSet = new FlatXmlDataSetBuilder().build(new File("dataset.xml"));
databaseTester.setDataSet(dataSet);
databaseTester.onSetup();

SQL Server Unit Testing – Microsoft Built-in Tools

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CREATE PROCEDURE TestStoredProcedure AS
BEGIN
    DECLARE @Result INT;
    EXEC @Result = MyStoredProcedure 5;
    
    IF @Result = 25
        PRINT 'Test Passed';
    ELSE
        PRINT 'Test Failed';
END;

pgTAP – PostgreSQL Unit Testing

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SELECT plan(2);
SELECT has_column('users', 'email', 'Users table has email column');
SELECT results_eq('SELECT count(*) FROM users WHERE active = TRUE', ARRAY[10], '10 active users exist');
SELECT finish();

Liquibase – Schema Migration and Testing

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databaseChangeLog:
  - changeSet:
      id: 1
      author: dev
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: customers
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true

Flyway – Database Versioning

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flyway migrate -url=jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/testdb -user=root -password=secret

DbFit – FitNesse-Based Database Testing

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| Query |
| SELECT name FROM customers WHERE id = 1 |
| name |
| John Doe |

Pros and Cons of Each Tool

Key Ideas

• tSQLt is the best tool for SQL Server unit testing.
• DbUnit works well for Java-based applications testing databases.
• SQL Server Unit Testing is outdated but still usable for simple tests.
• pgTAP is the best choice for PostgreSQL testing.
• Liquibase and Flyway are essential for schema versioning but not test frameworks.
• DbFit enables BDD-style database testing.

References

6. tSQLt Documentation
7. DbUnit GitHub
8. SQL Server Unit Testing Docs
9. pgTAP Documentation
10. Liquibase Documentation
11. Flyway Documentation
12. DbFit Documentation