definition of atomic

• From: Lynne Rosenthal <lynne.rosenthal@nist.gov>
• Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 12:00:56 -0400
• To: www-qa@w3.org
• Cc: www-qa-wg@w3.org
• Message-Id: <5.1.0.14.2.20030915115421.01e56bd8@mailserver.nist.gov>

As part of the discussion of the Test Guideline and test assertions, the 
notion of 'atomic' test assertions was mentioned as desirable.   Hence the 
need for a definition of atomic.

The following definitions is taken from the Dictionary of Computer Science 
Engineering and Technology, CRC Press, 2001

Atomic: pertaining to an operation which is indivisible into smaller units.
It also defines -
Atomic component: a (software) component which cannot be decomposed in 
smaller parts.
Atomic value: a value that cannot be decomposed further.
Thus, I conclude that:
Atomic test assertion: a test assertion that cannot be decomposed further.

--Lynne

Received on Monday, 15 September 2003 12:01:17 UTC