On Oct 19, 2007, at 12:29 PM, Pat Maddox wrote: > On 10/19/07, Daniel Tenner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> If I read correctly, Daniel is suggesting that this is not behaviour >>> because he's equating behaviour with interaction. This example >>> checks >>> an outcome, not an interaction. >>> >> >> That's right, one of my axioms is that "specifying" involves >> behaviour/interaction, not state/outcome. > > To be honest, I think you're way off the mark. Objects behave in two > ways: they manipulate their state, or they interact with other > objects. Both are valid types of behavior and can be used for > specification. >
[snip] > Calling withdraw doesn't reduce the account balance. It reduces the > balance reported by the account. It's a subtle distinction, and one > that's not important to think about 99% of the time. Hopefully though > you see why it's a fallacy to discount state-based testing as a valid > specification technique. As long as you're using an object's API, and > not digging into it's internal state as in David's evil example, > you're dealing with behavior. Couldn't agree with Pat more. As I see it, the problem is that ActiveRecord is not like a typical library, which is completely external. With rails, ActiveRecord::Base (and co) *become* your code. This should be obvious from the fact that you are decending from a base class which can never be instantiated. Maybe this is how you got on to the whole *assumption* test in the first place? Of course, if you wanted to split up your specs into specs/, stories/ and assumptions/, you would certainly be free to. Following up on the last idea: One thing that I don't think is yet widely understood is that there is no such thing as a "unit" or "integration" test - test happen on a continuum (the classification of a test is not a black and white sort of thing). Your "assumption tests" are basically model-level integration tests, which are not as fine grained as the normal spec (which would mock/stub out AR::Base, associations, validations (with load...), etc). Scott _______________________________________________ rspec-users mailing list rspec-users@rubyforge.org http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
