[Koha-devel] TestBuilder - Pros & Cons

[Jonathan Druart]

I asked Yohann and he answered me:
He based his module on a module of the Django framework: Model Mommy:
https://pypi.python.org/pypi/model_mommy.

2014-09-10 15:35 GMT+02:00 Jonathan Druart <jonathan.druart at biblibre.com>:
> Hello developers,
>
> Yesterday the TestBuilder case has been discussed during the meeting [1]
>
> I will try to list the pros and cons points as objectively as I can:
> Pros:
> - the module meets a need: simplify the writing of tests
>
> Cons:
> - it's another tool to learn
> - it should be covered by unit tests
> - it should be maintain
> - it hides the way how it works under the hood
> - it is not hard to create required rows in dependent tables
>
> That was the objective part.
> Now, since I would like to see TestBuilder [2] integrated into master,
> I will try to provide arguments.
>
> The need is to simplify the writing of tests, especially for the
> acquisition module.
> An easy goal could be to be data agnostic, random data could be
> generated as the beginning of all test files.
> So yes, it is another tool to learn, but the way we are writing tests
> for now is not elegant and maintain them will be a pain.
> The tool has been provided (by Yohann) with its own unit tests, no
> need to write them (hopefully!). The api is quite easy to learn (only
> 2 public methods: build and clear).
> I don't think this module will hide "how it works under the hood", the
> guys who will use them are going to add/write/rewrite a new routine
> and already know the DB structure.
> I would like to add that I don't think this module should be
> mandatory. A developer should be free not to use to it.
>
> Some examples have already been provided, which will help developers
> who want to use it.
> I would add that it is not "hard" to manually generate dependencies,
> just a waste of time. And it adds useless complexity in the tests
> files.
> When you have to create a library, a bookseller, a basket and a biblio
> to create an order, sometime for 1 test, it does not encourage
> developers to write tests. I think the best example is bug 12604 [3].
> It is the same if you want to issue an item to a patron, you will have
> to create a library, a patron category, a patron, a biblio and the
> item. Developers are lazy, they just want to tell "give me a patron
> and an item!".
>
> I am sure this is certainly not the best implementation. It has been
> done by an intern in 2 weeks. He didn't know perl or Koha 1 month
> before. Yohann provided a very good work.
> Moreover he based his work on a python library doing the same thing (I
> don't remember the name :-/)
> Note that some other modules already exist [4], but they won't work
> out of the box like TestBuilder. Maybe for our next intern :)
>
> Cheers,
> Jonathan
>
> Ps: to keep in mind whose this module will be useful, you can run the
> following command:
>    python gitinspector.py ~/src --since=2013-01-01 --file-types=t
> It will generate statistics for test files by author since 2013 (for
> busy guys, you can see the result here:
> http://paste.koha-community.org/199)
>
> [1] http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Development_IRC_meeting,_9_September_2014
> [2] Bug 12603 - TestBuilder - Module to simplify the writing of tests
> [3] Bug 12604: refactoring close_reopen_basket.t with TestBuilder
> [4] http://search.cpan.org/dist/DBIx-Class-Fixtures/lib/DBIx/Class/Fixtures.pm
> or Test::DBIx::Class:Factory