What exactly is a test driver?

Question

In the context of software engineering, what is a test driver? Is it the main() function that calls other functions, and displays their output, for testing? Or is there a separate test driver for each function?

Answer 1

Is it the main() function that calls other functions, and displays their output, for testing?

Essentially, yes; in the realm of software testing, a test driver is just the wrapper/mechanism that organizes the tests, runs them, and handles their output. It's typically more for unit testing than, say, QA testing.

It's pretty general, as you typically write your driver based on the needs of your project or team. It can be a part of a test framework, but does not need to be.

Or is there a separate test driver for each function?

Typically not, no. Your driver is intended to handle all of the tests, or all of a suite of tests.