From: Eric Hodel <drbrain@...7.net>
Date: 2004-06-01T10:54:49-07:00
Subject: Re: Test::Unit: assert_follows_spec() (or something like that)

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David Garamond (lists@zara.6.isreserved.com) wrote:

> For deterministic functions/methods, the same set of inputs should=20
> always produces the same output. What about adding something like:
>=20
>  assert_follows_spec(method_or_class_name, spec)
>=20
> Where spec is an array of input and output pairs (and optionally an=20
> exception, if the input should not be accepted):
>=20
>  [{input =3D> [1, 1, 1], output =3D> 1},
>   {input =3D> [8, 1, 2], output =3D> 4},
>   {input =3D> [8, 3, 4], output =3D> 6},
>   {input =3D> [4, 3, 2], output =3D> 6},
>   {input =3D> [1, 2, nil], exception =3D> ArgumentError},
>   {input =3D> [1, 2, 0], exception =3D> ZeroDivisionError}]
>
> This can make unit tests shorter and more readable. We can transform the=
=20
> spec into an HTML table, include it into the API documentation, etc.
>=20
> The assert_follows_spec() could even perform several iterations of tests=
=20
> if wanted, to test deterministic-ness.

If you've got a spec like this, why not write a method to autogenerate
test methods?

--=20
Eric Hodel - drbrain@segment7.net - http://segment7.net
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