I'd like to start a discussion on how we should handle test suites. Test suites are very valuable for improving the quality of specs and for guiding implementers. Organizations like the W3C require test suites. For example, RDF has a test suite [1]
Currently there are no test suites at OSLC. The Eclipse Lyo project has proposed to create test cases, which is a great step forward. However, we should make a clear distinction between test cases that are implementation-neutral versus test cases that are for a given implementation. In particular, the organization that owns the specification should also own the implementation-neutral test cases for it. In the case of RDF, the test suite consists of a set of RDF documents that cover as many of the features as possible. Both valid and invalid documents should be in the test suite. The meaning of valid RDF/XML documents is expressed by giving the corresponding set of RDF triples expresses in the much simpler N-triples syntax. For OSLC specs, we should provide test cases that give both valid and invalid resources formats, and for HTTP protocol interactions, the expected request and response pairs. The Eclipse Lyo project should use these OSLC test suites to validate its implementation. Implementers like Lyo should be encouraged to contribute implementation-neutral test cases to the OSLC test suites. [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-testcases/ Regards, ___________________________________________________________________________ Arthur Ryman DE, PPM & Reporting Chief Architect IBM Software, Rational Toronto Lab | +1-905-413-3077 (office) | +1-416-939-5063 (mobile)
