Releasing high-quality Mendix apps: Introducing the Menditect Testability Framework

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The Menditect Testability Framework provides a structured and comprehensive architectural approach specifically designed for Mendix developers aiming to achieve high maintainability and structural quality through enhanced testability of microflows. While the rapid development speed of low-code platforms is a major advantage, without disciplined architectural practices, Mendix applications can quickly become difficult to maintain and adapt, transforming into what is often called an unmanageable "software dragon". The Menditect Testability Framework (MTF) is designed for Mendix developers & testers building complex, business-critical apps that require a long life cycle and many releases.

 

By adopting a "design for test" (DFT) approach, MTF seeks to reduce reliance on costly, fragile, and maintenance-intensive end-to-end testing, prioritizing an efficient testing pyramid strategy. It is published as open source under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) and can be freely adapted and used in your projects.

 

Key benefits of applying the Menditect Testabilty Framework

While it might take some time to learn how to apply the concepts of MTF, there are three clear benefits for Mendix teams that apply it:

 

• Achieve a high structural quality and maintainability, with standardized code structure across all Mendix apps
• Optimize your testing efficiency and reliability, by leveraging carefully stacked tests from different layers of the testing pyramid
• Ensure your data integrity by using ACID principles whenever your Mendix app commits data to the database

 

These benefits will keep the release speed of your app high and allow you to focus on new features instead of spending your time on debugging and fixing complex Mendix apps.

 

Core Concepts of the Menditect Testability Framework

MTF is built on fundamental architectural principles, offering practical patterns for implementation in three key areas: microflow typologies, testable app architecture, and data quality.

 

1. Architectural Foundation: SoC and DI

MTF relies on two core architectural principles that are essential for testable design: Separation of Concerns (SoC) and Dependency Injection (DI).

 

• Separation of Concerns (SoC): This principle structures the application by dividing microflows into three horizontal layers—touchpoint, app logic, and domain—each with a specific responsibility. It also advocates for vertical separation through components (Mendix modules or dedicated folders) and implements encapsulation by hiding internal logic behind private microflows. This modularity makes components smaller, more focused, and testable in isolation.
• Dependency Injection (DI): In the Mendix context, DI focuses on data and configuration. Instead of microflows retrieving data internally, they are designed to receive all required information (objects or literals) as explicit input parameters. This practice makes the dependencies explicit and controllable, which is the foundation of isolated unit testing and ensures stable, predictable tests.

 

2. Standardizing Logic: Microflow Typologies

To enforce architectural structure and link logic directly to the testing pyramid, the framework introduces microflow typologies. These typologies define the purpose, pattern, and naming convention (using a three-capital-letter prefix like ACT_, ORC_, or OPR_) for every microflow.

 

• Unit Microflows (OPR, GET, VAL, FTN, RULE): These are the smallest, isolated units of logic that result in a measurable output, such as data manipulation, retrieval, or validation. They form the base of the Testing Pyramid and are the direct target of unit tests.
• Orchestration Microflows (ORC, CMT, VAL_ORC): These microflows handle core business processes by composing and routing the execution of unit microflows. They do not change or create values themselves. They are primarily targeted by component tests (focused on data output for critical business scenarios) and integration tests (focused on verifying the correct execution path/sequence).
• Touchpoint Microflows (ACT, PUB, SCE): These microflows serve as the entry points, triggered by external interfaces such as pages, published APIs, or scheduled events. They are the logical targets for high-level functional tests.

 

3. Ensuring Data Quality: Implementing Atomicity and Consistency

While the Mendix platform manages Isolation (I) and Durability (D) within the ACID transaction concept, developers must explicitly implement the patterns for Atomicity (A) and Consistency (C).

 

• Atomicity: This ensures a transaction is "all or nothing". It is achieved by rigorously defining a scope—the collection of all mutated objects that must be committed or rolled back together. The framework mandates that all database commit and delete actions be centralized within a dedicated Commit Microflow (CMT).
• Consistency: This guarantees that data moves from one valid state to another valid state. This is enforced by a layered validation strategy where all business rules are checked on the server side (Server-Side Validation). Specifically, invariant validations (VAL microflows) must be executed by the CMT microflow before any data is committed to the database.

 

Take the Next Step

Adopting the Menditect Testability Framework may require changing your current way of building and testing Mendix apps, but the resulting structural quality, maintainability and testability will save significant time and money in the long run.

We invite you to dive deeper into the documentation to master the concepts mentioned in this article:

 

• Developers: Start with the microflow typologies and the sections on ensuring data quality to learn the foundational patterns and principles for implementing testable microflows.
• Senior Developers and Architects: Explore the content on testable app architecture and implementing testability for Mendix apps to guide your application design and structure.
• Testers: Review the test types and the testing pyramid and learn how to leverage the testLogger helper component to create reliable assertions for integration and regression tests.

 

Updates & Feedback

Menditect will publish regular updates and add new content to the testability framework. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest info. If you have any feedback regarding the framework. Please let us know via our feedback form

Posted 2025-12-19

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