[Discuss] OT Rant/Discussion C vs C++

[bill at mills-curran.net (Bill Mills-Curran)]

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 03:05:37PM -0500, Doug wrote:
> Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:05:37 -0500
> From: Doug <sweetser at alum.mit.edu>
> To: discuss at blu.org
> Subject: Re: [Discuss] OT Rant/Discussion C vs C++
> Precedence: list
> 
> I am becoming a fan of Test Driven Development using Python.  The hope
> is for code that is a little more readable than alternatives.  All the
> tests do two things.  First, it drives smaller methods because they
> are easier to test.  Second it shows explicitly how to use the code.
> 
> The process of writing tests and code has made me a code re-writer
> more than just a writer.  My first drafts of code are BAD, although
> parts work.  The tension between the test and the class file help make
> things simpler and more consistent.
> 
> Another advantage in maintaining the code is that any new changes made
> after the original writer has left can be tested.  There are so many
> hidden dependencies, it is hard to tell if a new fix breaks something
> else.
> 
> Doug
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at blu.org
> http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> 

Unit testing has /always/ been the salvation of code developers.
Going back a ways to my ME development days...  

The company I worked for sold a large, nonlinear finite element
package.  They had a large library of test cases.  I developed a
regression test facility that was required to be run as part of a
developer's update.  Each update would be assigned a small portion of
the test cases, and the code would be run twice: once without the new
changes and once with the changes.  If there were differences, the
developer would have to sign off on them in order for his update to
proceed through the system.

This wasn't the classical unit test (just running a few functions),
but it did concentrate on just a few features.  It saved developers a
lot of embarassment, and it shortened our release QA cycle.

Test early & often.

Bill