Service Test

Here's a definition I tend to use:

A service test validates that a service performs the correct behavior. A set of tests is required to validate all of a service's behavior, with usually at least one test per operation. A service test must be written for a specific service interface.

A service test is a unit test designed to test a service. Some might consider a service to be too big a unit of code to properly unit test, so a service test is broader. But a service is a good level for testing since it's designed to be easily reusable and to encapsulate its implementation.

Two service provider implementations that pass the same set of service tests can be considered to be providers of the same service. This is because they have the same service behavior and service interface. To be truly interchangeable, two service providers should implement the same service contract.

I talk about service tests more in my article "Streamline SOA development using service mocks."