From: James Gray <james@...>
Date: 2008-08-04T06:15:07+09:00
Subject: Re: unit testing advice

On Aug 3, 2008, at 3:29 PM, James Britt wrote:

> I've been wondering about resistance to "purist" TDD/BDD, and if  
> there's some aspect of "listen to your body" to observe.  For  
> example, when exercising or dieting, there are assorted rules or  
> regimes to follow, but if something is hurting, or if you've  
> constant cravings for some food or another, then maybe that's an  
> important sign to deviate from the original plan, and not simply a  
> lack of will power or a failure to "do it right."

Yeah, I think you are making a lot of sense here.

For example, I haven't been able to get into RSpec.  I know a lot of  
people really like it and it's gained a lot of popularity recently,  
but it's not for me.

The interface just "feels" wrong to me.  To give a random example, I  
can't imagine how I would explain to a programming student something  
like, "Now we can check that valid?() method you just wrote using  
be_valid()."  I would much rather be saying, "OK, let's call valid?()  
a few times and see if we get the results we expect."

Even if RSpec becomes the one true way to handle Ruby testing, I'm  
going to have to respectfully decline to follow suit.  I'm glad people  
like it; I'm glad it's bringing new people to testing; I'm glad it's  
encouraging such good practices.  It's just not for me.

James Edward Gray II