[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":71},["ShallowReactive",2],{"term-t\u002Ftest-theater":3,"related-t\u002Ftest-theater":59},{"id":4,"title":5,"acronym":6,"body":7,"category":40,"description":41,"difficulty":42,"extension":43,"letter":44,"meta":45,"navigation":46,"path":47,"related":48,"seo":53,"sitemap":54,"stem":57,"subcategory":6,"__hash__":58},"terms\u002Fterms\u002Ft\u002Ftest-theater.md","Test Theater",null,{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":33},"minimark",[10,15,19,23,26,30],[11,12,14],"h2",{"id":13},"eli5-the-vibe-check","ELI5 — The Vibe Check",[16,17,18],"p",{},"Test theater is writing tests primarily to make reviewers happy rather than to catch bugs. The tests exist. They pass. They'd also pass if you deleted the code they're supposed to test. Looks rigorous; is useless.",[11,20,22],{"id":21},"real-talk","Real Talk",[16,24,25],{},"Test theater describes tests whose primary function is signaling rather than verification — passing code review, meeting coverage thresholds, or fulfilling process requirements. Includes tautological tests, shallow snapshot tests, and tests against mocked dependencies that bypass the logic under test. Mutation testing and property-based testing surface test theater.",[11,27,29],{"id":28},"when-youll-hear-this","When You'll Hear This",[16,31,32],{},"\"Those tests pass no matter what I change. Pure test theater.\" \u002F \"Test theater inflates coverage without catching regressions.\"",{"title":34,"searchDepth":35,"depth":35,"links":36},"",2,[37,38,39],{"id":13,"depth":35,"text":14},{"id":21,"depth":35,"text":22},{"id":28,"depth":35,"text":29},"testing","Test theater is writing tests primarily to make reviewers happy rather than to catch bugs. The tests exist. They pass.","intermediate","md","t",{},true,"\u002Fterms\u002Ft\u002Ftest-theater",[49,50,51,52],"Coverage Theater","Unit Test","Mutation Testing","Test Smell",{"title":5,"description":41},{"changefreq":55,"priority":56},"weekly",0.7,"terms\u002Ft\u002Ftest-theater","b9c1QTpZ2mpZso_ZV4Hv5w_et5DmbqNmC5qyyGV81aQ",[60,63,67],{"title":49,"path":61,"acronym":6,"category":40,"difficulty":42,"description":62},"\u002Fterms\u002Fc\u002Fcoverage-theater","Coverage theater is writing tests that hit every line of code but actually test nothing. Your coverage badge says 98%.",{"title":51,"path":64,"acronym":6,"category":40,"difficulty":65,"description":66},"\u002Fterms\u002Fm\u002Fmutation-testing","advanced","Mutation testing is a way to test your tests.",{"title":50,"path":68,"acronym":6,"category":40,"difficulty":69,"description":70},"\u002Fterms\u002Fu\u002Funit-test","beginner","A unit test is like checking that one single LEGO brick isn't broken before you use it in your big castle.",1776518318511]