Re: [PhillyOnRails] rspec slides

[Cliff Moon <cliff@moonpolysoft.com>]

Somewhere on this thread someone mentioned about not being able to tell
a good test from a bad test.  This got me thinking and I remembered
seeing a tool somewhere for testing the efficacy of your tests.  Turns
out I was thinking of heckle:
http://glu.ttono.us/articles/2006/12/19/tormenting-your-tests-with-heckle. 
It mutates portions of your code under test to verify that your tests
fail.  The idea being, that if a mutation doesn't fail a test, you
either aren't testing correctly or the code in question doesn't do anything.

Justin W. Reagor wrote:
> Well said! Or maybe its because I work for you... HAH :P
>
> :: Justin Reagor
> :: justinwr@gmail.com <mailto:justinwr@gmail.com>
>
>
>
> On Sep 13, 2007, at 4:12 PM, Colin A. Bartlett wrote:
>
>> Cliff Moon wrote:
>>> As for BDD, my understanding is that the point of it is to make your
>>> tests into executable documentation. 
>> This is the most exciting thing to me about RSpec and BDD and what
>> drew me to it in the first place.
>>
>> My role involves more customer relationship handling then coding and
>> the idea that we could build, with the client, specifications for the
>> application, and then use that as executable document for building
>> the app was, and is, thrilling.
>>
>> And the fact that these specs could easily grow overtime and continue
>> to be an updated documentation makes it even better. No more running
>> back to the docs to ensure you added the change the client just asked
>> you to shoe-horn in.
>>
>> I love the specdoc output formatter for RSpec. I've used that to
>> generate a document for the client to say "This is what your
>> application is doing. If it's not on here, don't assume it's doing
>> it." In my experience, having a client assume stuff can be a royal
>> pain in the ass.
>>
>> "You're supposed to know what you're doing. I just assumed you'd
>> require people to enter their dog's middle name to gain access."
>>
>> -- 
>> Colin A. Bartlett
>> Kinetic Web Solutions
>> http://blog.kineticweb.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> To unsubscribe or change your settings, visit:
>> http://lists.phillyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your settings, visit:
> http://lists.phillyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
>   

_______________________________________________
To unsubscribe or change your settings, visit:
http://lists.phillyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/talk