doc: add testing policy — real DNS only, no mocks
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Documents the project testing philosophy: all resolver tests must
use live DNS queries. Mocking the DNS client layer is not permitted.
Includes rationale and anti-patterns to avoid.
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2026-02-22 04:28:47 -08:00
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TESTING.md Normal file
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# Testing Policy
## DNS Resolution Tests
All resolver tests **MUST** use live queries against real DNS servers.
No mocking of the DNS client layer is permitted.
### Rationale
The resolver performs iterative resolution from root nameservers through
the full delegation chain. Mocked responses cannot faithfully represent
the variety of real-world DNS behavior (truncation, referrals, glue
records, DNSSEC, varied response times, EDNS, etc.). Testing against
real servers ensures the resolver works correctly in production.
### Constraints
- Tests hit real DNS infrastructure and require network access
- Test duration depends on network conditions; timeout tuning keeps
the suite within the 30-second target
- Query timeout is calibrated to 3× maximum antipodal RTT (~300ms)
plus processing margin
- Root server fan-out is limited to reduce parallel query load
- Flaky failures from transient network issues are acceptable and
should be investigated as potential resolver bugs, not papered over
with mocks or skip flags
### What NOT to do
- **Do not mock `DNSClient`** for resolver tests (the mock constructor
exists for unit-testing other packages that consume the resolver)
- **Do not add `-short` flags** to skip slow tests
- **Do not increase `-timeout`** to hide hanging queries
- **Do not modify linter configuration** to suppress findings