Why I stopped aiming for 100% test coverage as a solo developer (and a book announcement)
Hey everyone,
I’ll be honest: For the longest time, I hated testing.
In the early stages of my career, testing felt like a "corporate tax." I was following the standard advice: test every method, aim for 100% coverage, and use complex factories. As a solo developer, this killed my momentum. I spent more time fixing broken tests than shipping features.
Everything changed when I moved back to Minitest and Fixtures. I realized that the testing strategies used by teams of 50 people are actually harmful to a solo indie hacker.
I’ve spent the last year refining a philosophy I call "Wise Testing." It’s about getting 90% confidence with only 10% of the effort - focusing heavily on System Tests for the "Golden Path" and only using unit tests for complex business logic (POROs).
I decided to put all these patterns, workflows, and speed optimizations into a book: Wise Testing: The Solo Founder's Guide to Rails Quality.
The goal isn't to reach a coverage metric; it's to build a "safety net" that allows you to refactor and ship on a Friday afternoon without a panic attack.
I’m looking for some feedback from the community.
If you are a solo dev or indie hacker struggling with your testing suite, I’d love to send over some review copies in exchange for some honest feedback or a testimonial if you find it helpful.
If you’re interested in a review copy, please send me a DM or comment below!
You can also read the "manifesto" post that inspired the book here: https://norvilis.com/wise-testing-what-to-test-and-ignore-as-a-solo-rails-developer/