ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Test harness

A test harness is like a superhero suit that helps us test our computer programs and make sure they are working properly. Just like how Superman has a suit that helps him fight bad guys, a test harness has tools and gadgets that help us check if our programs are doing what they're supposed to do.

When we write a computer program, we want to make sure it works in different situations and handles different inputs correctly. This is where the test harness comes in. It creates a special environment where we can test our program without worrying about breaking anything important.

Think of it like a playground where we can test our program and play around with it as much as we want. The test harness provides a safe space where we can experiment and see if our program can handle different situations.

The test harness has different tools that allow us to test different parts of our program. For example, if we're testing a calculator program, the test harness might have a tool that checks if the addition function works correctly, or if the division function returns an error when we try to divide by zero.

By using a test harness, we can catch bugs and mistakes in our program before we release it to the public. It's like a security guard who checks our backpack before we enter a movie theater to make sure we're not carrying anything dangerous.

In short, a test harness is a special tool that helps us test our computer programs and make sure they work properly by providing a safe testing environment.