From: Chris White <cwprogram@...>
Date: 2011-09-29T10:30:41+09:00
Subject: Re: Tree - Recursive print function

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> I'm working on a tree data structure at the moment and I'm having
> trouble with the recursive print function. It seems that the function
> simply restarts every time it finishes... Even though it is not a
> infinite loop. Hope that you guy's can help me figure out what the
> problem is.

Instead of answering the answer directly I'm going to take a "teach a man t=
o fish" approach. The Ruby community has many proponents of what is known a=
s TDD or Test Driven Development. In essence the approach is to write a tes=
t that will fail (missing class=2C missing file=2C incorrect functionality)=
=2C then make that test pass. Then you write another test which will fail a=
nd make that pass as well. Each test should focus on a specific piece of fu=
nctionality.=20

Why is this important? Consider your situation now. You've written a giant =
test which attempts to look at the entire class as a whole instead of the i=
ndividual components. Now you're stuck trying to figure out which of these =
components has an issue. If the TDD approach had been taken first=2C you co=
uld have easily narrowed down the problematic piece of code and potentially=
 figured out what went wrong on your own.=20

I recommend taking a look at how TDD works. Here is a basic screencast to g=
et you started:

http://kanemar.com/2006/03/04/screencast-of-test-driven-development-with-ru=
by-part-1-a-simple-example/

Write some tests for each piece of functionality in your class and see what=
's not working out.

Regards=2C
Chris White
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cwgem
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