Testing: It's a Horrible Idea

The ruby community likes tests. And that's a good thing. But sometimes rubyists go a bit too far with this. Can there be too much testing? Is that considered harmful?

This presentation goes over the problems of "too much testing", and those of a natural consequence of having too many tests: irrelevant/bad tests. It then moves onwards to a few things I've picked up during the last few years that have helped me in keeping my test suites under control.

Transcript

1. Testing
   It’s a Horrible Idea
   

   View Slide

2. Nicolas
   Sanguinetti
   @godfoca
   github.com/foca
   

   View Slide

3. Nicolas
   Sanguinetti
   @godfoca
   github.com/foca
   

   View Slide

4. TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TES
   TES
   TEST
   TEST
   TE
   EST
   

   View Slide

5. TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TES
   TES
   TEST
   TEST
   TE
   EST
   Quickly Find
   Regressions
   

   View Slide

6. TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TES
   TES
   TEST
   TEST
   TE
   EST
   Repeatable
   Test Process
   

   View Slide

7. TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TES
   TES
   TEST
   TEST
   TE
   EST
   Better OOP
   Design
   

   View Slide

8. TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TES
   TES
   TEST
   TEST
   TE
   EST
   Documentation
   

   View Slide

9. TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TEST
   TES
   TES
   TEST
   TEST
   TE
   EST
   Software
   Without
   Errors
   

   View Slide

10. TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TEST
    TES
    TES
    TEST
    TEST
    TE
    EST
    Peace of
    Mind for You
    

    View Slide

11. This is
    True
    

    View Slide

12. Tests are
    GOOD
    

    View Slide

13. But
    if you
    Abuse
    them,
    

    View Slide

14. http://www.flickr.com/photos/katiesnape/5165365743
    They
    Will
    Harm
    You.
    

    View Slide

15. http://xkcd.com/303/
    Time to Run
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrentunnicliff/4469318003
    

    View Slide

16. http://xkcd.com/303/
    Time to Run
    

    View Slide

17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oiled_bird_3.jpg
    Maintenance
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Deepwater_Horizon_offshore_drilling_unit_on_fire_2010.jpg
    

    View Slide

18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oiled_bird_3.jpg
    Maintenance
    

    View Slide

19. Difficult to Understand
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mscolly/145052885
    

    View Slide

20. False Sense of Security
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/glowbird/4927122391
    

    View Slide

21. We Need
    Solutions
    

    View Slide

22. Less
    Tests
    

    View Slide

23. Simpler
    Tests
    

    View Slide

24. Faster
    Tests
    

    View Slide

25. Sometimes it isn’t worth it
    https://twitter.com/jamesgolick/status/119911430387544064
    

    View Slide

26. Golden Rule
    of Testing
    

    View Slide

27. Listen
    to your
    Tests
    

    View Slide

28. Now forget
    everything
    I just said
    

    View Slide

29. Thanks
    @godfoca
    

    View Slide

30. Questions?
    jobs@cuboxsa.com
    

    View Slide

31. Resources
    http://confreaks.net/videos/641-gogaruco2011-fast-rails-tests
    Fast Rails Tests – Corey Haines
    http://confreaks.net/videos/659-rubyconf2011-why-you-don-t-get-mock-objects
    Why Don’t You Get Mock Objects – Gregory Moeck
    http://blog.rubybestpractices.com/posts/gregory/050-issues-18-testing-dogma.html
    Dirty Little Secrets About Testing – Gregory Brown
    http://speakerrate.com/talks/8891-testing-it-s-a-horrible-idea
    Please rate this talk on SpeakerRate! Thanks!
    http://speakerdeck.com/u/foca/p/testing-its-a-horrible-idea
    These Slides :)
    

    View Slide