TestBalloon: Kotlin testing is easier (and more fun) than you think. Oliver Okrongli, Bernd Prünster

Recording brought to you by American Express. https://americanexpress.io/kotlin-jobs You want an easier way to write tests? Parameterize tests in plain Kotlin? Reuse a series of tests? Easily extend own your test setup? Have first-class support on all platforms? All without struggling with a huge framework API? TestBalloon is a new test framework that brings the power of Kotlin to your test setup. With a small-surface API, a hierarchical test structure and an extensible DSL, TestBalloon makes Kotlin testing easy. How does TestBalloon fit into the existing test landscape? Why can you keep your favorite assertions library or just use Power Assert? How does a next-generation framework cooperate with legacy JUnit 4, but also the latest JUnit 6? How well can it support all platforms up to Wasm/WASI? Why do nested, concurrent or parallel tests work on platforms that don’t natively support it? Get ready for some surprises as we’ll look into how deeply TestBalloon integrates with the existing infrastructure. Discover modern testing patterns and strategies. You’ll see lots of practical examples, ranging from simple unit tests with less boilerplate to advanced testing with coroutines and generated data. We’ll cover parameterized tests, data-driven testing, and fixtures, which handle shared or isolated state across multiple tests. And we’ll explore how simple custom test functions handle common scenarios, like flaky tests, in a way that’s tailored to your specific use cases. Finally, we’ll dive into larger test setups, how to efficiently structure them, and how to successfully migrate them to TestBalloon with surprisingly little effort. Across the complete range of testing on all Kotlin targets from mobile across server-side to full multiplatform testing, you’ll learn a set of effective techniques and patterns. And you’ll discover how TestBalloon makes your testing life easier by opening the gates for the superpower that you already have: Your Kotlin skills. At the end of this talk, you’ll be able to firmly the answer the question: "How can I master Kotlin testing with ease, and make my team release with joy and confidence, every time?"