Testing code that talks to the database can be slow. Fakes are fast but unrealistic. What to do? With a little help from Docker, you can write tests that run fast, use the real database, are easy to write and run.

I tried Itamar’s technique on changelog.com’s test suite and the 679 tests complete in ~17 seconds. The same tests run directly against Postgres complete in ~12 seconds.

A net loss for me, but that may have something to do with how Docker for Mac works? I’d love to hear other people’s experiences.