From: Dave Thomas <Dave@...>
Date: 2001-11-19T02:32:14+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:25769] Re: rubyUnit, et. al.

Albert Wagner <alwagner@tcac.net> writes:

> I am curious about how others work; And how unit testing is really
> used: as a predefinition of specs or tacked on after-the-fact to
> convince others that you are PC (Politically Correct).

Don't tell the XP crowd, but I do both. Not just to be Politically
Correct, but also to be Programmatically Correct.

I do test first when I want to explore the interfaces, or
alternatively when I understand the interfaces 100%.

I code first when the code itself will shape the interfaces (that is
where the functionality is more important than the interface to it: if
providing an interface a certain way makes the code twice as easy to
write, I want to know about it).

However, the tests aren't just window dressing. They're there to
liberate me. If I have a good set of unit tests, then I can make
changes without worrying too much about ripple-on effects: I make the
change, run the tests, and if I've messed up, I can unmake the
change. Typically I run the tests in Ruby every line or two of code:
it takes no time, and it keeps me on the straight and narrow.

One last thing: unit tests ar a great way to submit bug reports...


Dave