diff --git a/content/notes/good-tests/index.md b/content/notes/good-tests/index.md index 9cf1945..712a21e 100644 --- a/content/notes/good-tests/index.md +++ b/content/notes/good-tests/index.md @@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ draft: false _(Notes for a Viget article I'm putting together)_ * Most importantly: **give you confidence to make changes** + * This gets more and more important over time +* Secondarily: + * Tells you it works during development + * Help your code reviewers + * Serves as a kind of documentation (though not a very concise one) * Focus on two kinds of tests: unit and integration * Unit: test your objects/functions directly * Integration: simulated browser interactions @@ -30,24 +35,28 @@ _(Notes for a Viget article I'm putting together)_ * If it's, say, 94%, and you add 100 lines, six of those can be untested -- hope they're perfect! * In other words, at less than 100% coverage, you don't know if your new feature is fully covered or not * Occasionally you have to ignore some code -- e.g. something that only runs in production + * It's OK if you're not at 100% right now -- set the threshold to your current level, and increase it as you add tests and new well-tested features * Third-party/network calls * Major libraries often have mock services (e.g. [stripe-mock][2]) * VCR is … OK but can become a maintenance problem - * Block access to the web + * Blocking access to the web is good though -- [webmock][3] * A better approach * Move your integration code into a module * Create a second stub module with the same API - * Use [JSON Schema][3] to ensure stub stays in sync (i.e. both the real client and the stub client validate against the schema) + * Use [JSON Schema][4] to ensure stub stays in sync (i.e. both the real client and the stub client validate against the schema) * This will lead to more reliable tests and also more robust code * Flaky tests are bad * They eat up a lot of development time (esp. as build times increase) * Try to stay on top of them and squash them as they arise * Some frameworks have `retry` options/libraries that can help (bandage not cure) + * [rspec-retry][5] * In general, though, flaky tests suck and generally indicate lack of quality with either your code or your tools * So write better code or pick better tools -[3]: https://json-schema.org/ [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development [2]: https://github.com/stripe/stripe-mock +[3]: https://github.com/bblimke/webmock#real-requests-to-network-can-be-allowed-or-disabled +[4]: https://json-schema.org/ +[5]: https://github.com/NoRedInk/rspec-retry {{}}