Test names are descriptive

When a test fails in CI, the first signal is the test name. A name like test 1 or should work tells the developer nothing: which behavior failed, which input triggered it, which component is broken. AI-generated test scaffolding frequently produces placeholder names that were never replaced. The result is a test suite where CI failure messages require reading test bodies to understand what broke — slowing down incident response and increasing the chance a developer ignores the failure. ISO-25010:2011 maintainability requires that tests communicate intent clearly.

Replace any test name under 5 characters or matching patterns like test 1, foo, should work, or empty strings with a name that describes the specific behavior and expected outcome. The name should complete the sentence "It...":

// Before: meaningless in CI output
it('test 1', () => { ... })
it('test 2', () => { ... })

// After: CI failure message is self-explanatory
it('rejects signup with duplicate email', () => { ... })
it('returns 404 when user does not exist', () => { ... })

• ID: descriptive-test-names

• Severity: low

• What to look for: Walk all test files for it(/test(/describe( calls. Before evaluating, extract and quote the first-argument string of each call. Count all test names matching these patterns: a single number ('1', '2'), 'test', 'test 1', 'test 2', 'it works', 'should work', 'foo', 'bar', 'todo', an empty string, or fewer than 5 characters total.

• Pass criteria: Fewer than 10% of test names match the placeholder patterns. Report: "X test names inspected, Y placeholder names (Z%)."

• Fail criteria: 10% or more of test names match the placeholder patterns.

• Skip (N/A) when: Project has 0 test files.

• Detail on fail: "4 of 30 test names are placeholders (13%): 'test 1', 'test 2', 'foo', 'should work'. Use descriptive names like 'creates a user with valid email'"

• Remediation: Placeholder test names like test 1 make CI failure messages useless. Use descriptive names that match the assertion:

  // Bad: placeholder names
  it('test 1', () => { ... })
  it('test 2', () => { ... })
  
  // Good: descriptive
  it('creates a user with valid email', () => { ... })
  it('rejects users with invalid email format', () => { ... })