The whole idea of halting on first failure was introduced to me by some XUnit folks. Their rationale was not to avoid spewing output, they had no such problem since it's all done via a GUI, but that once one failure has happened the failing code might hose the environment and all following results are now considered contaminated. This might make sense in a laboratory, but it seems a bit like overkill in for day-to-day software testing throwing out perfectly fine data. As any field scientist knows, there's no such thing as uncontaminated data.
The idea that you can diagnose everything from the first failure reminded me of a gag about tech support that goes something like this: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/97/Oct/techsupport.html TECH: "Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?" CUST: "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect." TECH: "What sort of trouble?" CUST: "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away." TECH: "Went away?" CUST: "They disappeared." TECH: "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?" CUST: "Nothing." TECH: "Nothing?" CUST: "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type." TECH: "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?" CUST: "How do I tell?" TECH: "Can you see the "C" prompt on the screen?" CUST: "What's a sea-prompt?" TECH: "Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?" CUST: "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type." TECH: "Does your monitor have a power indicator?" CUST: "What's a monitor?" TECH: "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?" CUST: "I don't know." TECH: "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?" CUST: "...Yes, I think so." TECH: "Great! Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall." CUST: "...Yes, it is." TECH: "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?" CUST: "No." TECH: "Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable." CUST: "...Okay, here it is." TECH: "Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer." CUST: "I can't reach." TECH: "Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?" CUST: "No." TECH: "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?" CUST: "Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle-it's because it's dark." TECH: "Dark?" CUST: "Yes-the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window." TECH: "Well, turn on the office light then." CUST: "I can't." TECH: "No? Why not?" CUST: "Because there's a power outage." TECH: "A power... a power outage? Aha! Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?" CUST: "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet." TECH: "Good! Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from." CUST: "Really? Is it that bad?" TECH: "Yes, I'm afraid it is." CUST: "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?" TECH: "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer." -- 94. Crucifixes do not ward off officers, and I should not test that. -- The 213 Things Skippy Is No Longer Allowed To Do In The U.S. Army http://skippyslist.com/?page_id=3
