On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:36:30 +0900, Robert D. wrote:
assert_kind_of? Enumeration, my_thingy.instance_variable_get(“@words”)
but better would be duck type tests
assert_respond_to? :each, my_thing…
assert [:each, :map, :size] <= my_thingy.ivarget(“@words”).methods
Ah! You’re talking about stories (integration tests in TDD), which
specify
how the system behaves in terms of the user’s exeperience, vs.
specifications (unit tests in TDD), which specify how an object
behaves
in terms of another object’s experience.[1]
The current RSpec trunk is actually taking this conversation to a really
cool place; the acceptance/integration tests are called “stories”, and
are
written in plain text, ideally even by the customer/client instead of
the
developer, e.g.:
Story: translate languages while confusing nationalism
As an English speaker
I want to translate foreign languages into English
And mix up foreign countries
So that I can read it without needing maps, because
US Americans do not have maps, such as, the Iraq.
Scenario: General French text
Given the original text is “Je ne suis pas disponible”
And the original language is French
When I press the translate button
Then the new text should be “Gone fishing”
Scenario: French nationalism/country mention
Given the original text is “Vive la France”
And the original language is French
When I press the translate button
Then the new text should be “Vive Italia”
That’s it. That’s the exact format of a story. You’d then have code
that
deals with the parameters in each step:
steps = StepGroup.new do |define|
define.given(“the original text is "$text"”) do |text|
@translator.set_text text
…etc…
end
end
On the other hand, your specs (unit tests in TDD) are written more
programmatically; the intended reader/writer is a developer, and it
saves
having to write step groups:
Parser#parse will return either a Nationalism or a Translatable
object.
p = Parser.new(:french)
p.parse(“Bon soir”).should_be kind_of?(Translatable)
p.parse(“Vive la France”).should_be kind_of?(Nationalism)
lambda { p.parse("Hello, I must be going) }.should_raise
Exception::AlreadyEnglish
etc.
For more on plain-text stories, check out:
http://blog.davidchelimsky.net/articles/2007/10/21/story-runner-in-plain-english
or
http://rubyurl.com/2AS
[1] Stolen shamelessly from a recent David C. post to the
rspec-users list
