From: ptkwt@...1.aracnet.com (Phil Tomson)
Date: 2002-05-27T13:00:24+09:00
Subject: Re: using test::unit for C++ unit tests

In article <CHELLOJJMKHPEKPJINCBKEHIDLAA.robert.calco@verizon.net>,
Bob Calco <robert.calco@verizon.net> wrote:
>Phil:
>
>As a C/C++ guy at heart, I have given some thought to this problem (i.e.,
>that of using Ruby to generate unit tests for other languages like, oh, say
>C and C++). In fact, it's one of the core themes of the book I'm working on
>with Rich Kilmer and Dana Moore: Ruby as a software engineering toolsmith
>language.
>
>One approach (the one toward which I lean) is to generate the C++ classes
>using Ruby as a sort of code specification language. I'm calling the package
>RuGen, and it will have an assortment of code generators one day, but
>upfront I'm working on code generators for Java and C++. The beauty of this
>approach is it becomes unnecessary to parse a C++ file to determine what to
>test, because you already have all of the metadata about the code you need
>to a.) generate the code (or at least the complete skeleton/interface
>thereof) and b.) generate the test code for the generated code, treating the
>interface as a "black box". (I'm writing a separate package, RuLog, to
>provide the logic/inference capabilities necessary to create meaningful and
>comprehensive test cases from the spec).
>
>RuGen is still in the design/prototype phase, but the idea is fairly clear
>in my head, in terms of how it will work. Rather than create a bunch of
>specific language parsers, have one specification language (in much the same
>way that Ruby/DL is a specification language for dynamic loading of external
>libraries) and a number of generators that are capable of translating the
>spec to code in a more or less plug'n'play, or, if I ever get around to
>slapping a GUI on it, a point'n'click fashion.
>
>Hopefully I'll have something working soon - I'm probably going to do the
>Java generator first, though. But it should serve as an example to everybody
>else how to build a code generator for the RuGen package (RuGen providing
>the high-level abstractions needed to tie all the plug-in pieces together).
>
>All thoughts, comments, suggestions welcome.
>
>:)
>

Bob,

RuGen sounds really interesting and potentially useful.  So let me see if 
I understand correctly: you could write some Ruby classes/code which would 
act as an executable spec and then at some point you could translate the 
Ruby classes into C++ classes and testcases.  If I'm understanding 
correctly, this would be a great way to prototype C++ code using Ruby.
So how will you specify types for the C++ side?

Any idea when we might see the inital release of RuGen?

Phil