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On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 8:49 PM, Ryan Davis <ryand-ruby / zenspider.com>wrote:

>
> On Sep 25, 2008, at 03:33 , daz wrote:
>
>  Respect for defending the English language, Ryan, but this is Ruby.
>>
>> Note this oddity in English grammar:
>>
>>  1) It [singular] raises.
>>  2) They [plural] raise.
>>
>
> We're talking about assertions in unit tests here. There is never a plural
> subject.
>
> assert_raises reads correctly for both singular and multiple arguments:
>
> assert (that it) raises (a) SyntaxError.
> assert (that it) raises (one of) SyntaxError or ArgumentError.
>

it depends entirely how you imagine the "missing" words. one could also read
it like this:

assert (the block to) raise (an) Exception

This is, of course, absurd. What I am trying to say is that we should read
method names as artificial commands and not as abbreviated English
sentences. I'd prefer assert_exception over assert_raise and that over
assert_raises.

-- henon

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<div dirtr"><div classmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 8:49 PM, Ryan Davis <span dirtr">&lt;<a hrefailto:ryand-ruby / zenspider.com">ryand-ruby / zenspider.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote classmail_quote" styleargin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div classh2E3d"><br>
On Sep 25, 2008, at 03:33 , daz wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote classmail_quote" styleargin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Respect for defending the English language, Ryan, but this is Ruby.<br>
<br>
Note this oddity in English grammar:<br>
<br>
 &nbsp;1) It [singular] raises.<br>
 &nbsp;2) They [plural] raise.<br>
</blockquote>
<br></div>
We&#39;re talking about assertions in unit tests here. There is never a plural subject.<br>
<br>
assert_raises reads correctly for both singular and multiple arguments:<br>
<br>
assert (that it) raises (a) SyntaxError.<br>
assert (that it) raises (one of) SyntaxError or ArgumentError.<br></blockquote></div><br><div>it depends entirely how you imagine the &quot;missing&quot; words. one could also read it like this:<br><br>assert (the block to) raise (an) Exception<br>
<br>This is, of course, absurd. What I am trying to say is that we should read method names as artificial commands and not as abbreviated English sentences. I&#39;d prefer assert_exception over assert_raise&nbsp;and that over assert_raises.<br>
<br>-- henon<br><br></div><div><br></div></div>

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