Eric,
Don't worry, I generally prefer open source tools to ones that are
proprietary. After playing with IntelliJIDEA, I'm not nearly as
impressed with it as I was earlier. I suspect we're better off with
Netbeans and/or Eclipse in that area. For test tools, I'll definitely go
with open source. I like being able to get in and tweak stuff if I need to.
I'd like to make unit testing part of the build process, just because I
think it will help us spot obvious problems much faster. I'm sure I can
find a way to make it optional. It's been a while since I tinkered with
a build system, so it may take a while for me to get something working
to my satisfaction.
I'll be trying several different tools out, and I plan to write up a
brief report on what I discover and my recommendations. I think it's
best if everyone is on board with any decisions that are made that
affect day-to-day coding.
At the moment, I want to find the following tools:
* a unit test platform. So far JUnit3.8 or JUnit4 looks good. So
does TestNG. Both can be automated and included in build process.
* a GUI testing framework. This is always one of the toughest things
to get tested on any project. Since so much of this project is
graphics oriented, I think it's really important to find a test
tool that is reasonably easy to use and one that will continue to
be supported in the future.
* A static code analysis tool. I'm a big believer in software
metrics and I've used them in the past with great success. By
running complexity metrics on the code, it should be pretty easy
to identify which modules are the most fragile and in need of
extra testing.
* A code coverage tool. By having a code coverage tool, I can
accurately document how much of the application has actually be
tested.
I'm writing a novel, too, and that has to take precedence, but I'm
having fun with this, so far.
I'd still like to know why the team doesn't want to use any of the new
features in Java, the ones in 1.5 and 1.6. As far as I can tell, the
application works fine with the new platform. My main concern is that
JUnit4 and TestNG are both using annotations to create test cases, and
that appears to be the way things are going with the other test tools as
well. If we don't adopt the new technology, we'll be stuck with tools
that are not maintained and improved.
If there are sections with known problems, perhaps I can take a look at
them. Fortunately, I have not only my own expertise to draw on, but that
of my wife, who is a professional programmer in the MMO game industry.
Ray
Eric Lavarde - FreeMind wrote:
Hello Ray,
I appreciate your help, especially as I personally don't have any time free.
As you select one or more tools, just a few requests:
1. make sure that they're multi-platform and as free as possible.
2. if the tools are part of the build process, make sure that they are
open source, or at least with a license that allows packaging and
distribution through a Linux distribution.
3. if the tools are part of the build process, make your best that they
are already packaged for Debian (http://packages.debian.org/) and JPackage
(http://jpackage.org/). That makes my life as Linux-packager less
miserable...
4. if the tools are part of the build process, it needs to be automated.
5. Testing can be part of the build process (using ant/build.xml) but it
should be optional, as to avoid lengthy test runs while just trying to get
a package building completely.
6. If the tools are not part of the build process, then points 2 to 4 are
optional, but still welcome :-)
Thanks, Eric
PS: good news, I'm starting to close more holes in my walls than actually
digging new ones... I would say I'm on time for my beta phase ;-)
Ray Benjamin said:
That's quite true, they won't write themselves. When I write code for
this project though, I'll write the appropriate unit test cases. That's
just part of the way I do stuff, so it's not really a problem for me.
I'm not insisting anyone else do the same, just encouraging you to do
so. I'll take care of getting the rest of the testing framework setup.
I'm still looking at a couple of other possibilities, as well. TestNG
looks good, too. I've also found a couple of testing programs that allow
for record and playback and some specifically designed to test GUI
interfaces. Might take a little while to sort through them, but I'll
keep trying to do manual testing in the meantime.
Ray
Dimitry Polivaev wrote:
Oh, it looks like you can use JUnit4 w/o having to put the test cases
in
with the source. That's optional.
That's fine. The only problem is with making the test cases.
Dimitry
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