Ron Jeffries [mailto:ronjeffries / REMOVEacm.org] wrote:

> On Sat, 02 Mar 2002 18:22:58 GMT, nathaniel / talbott.ws wrote:
>
> I note that the RubyUnit compatibility "will not be installed
> if you already have RubyUnit installed". 

Yup, that's correct, although you can override it and force the install.


> Yet it seems to me that the /point/ of Test::Unit is to be RU
> compatible.

Mmmmm... not really. The point of Test::Unit is to be a really good unit
testing framework in and of itself. RU compatibility is an add-on
feature that allows you to keep running your old tests written against
RU without having to worry about downloading and installing two things.
This is particularly important when you're using third-party libraries,
as it's a pain to have to install another testing library so that you
can run the tests that come with pre-Test::Unit library XYZ.

My personal opinion is that it's better to write new tests against the
Test::Unit API, as it is the focus of my active development, and it's
what new developers will be used to once it gets included in the core
library. Of course that's IMNSHO, YMMV, etc., etc. Do others have
different opinions on this?


> And the statement above makes me wonder what I 
> have to do to switch over to Test::Unit from RubyUnit, and 
> what I'd have to do to go back.
>
> I'd like to be able to install Test::Unit, change a couple of
> requires, try it out, and feel confident that if it doesn't 
> work, I can just back it out safely.

I think the key thing to realize here is that Test::Unit has its own API
separate from RubyUnit's. If you install the compatibility layer, you
shouldn't have to change your RU tests at all (assuming you don't
encounter any holes in the compatibility). However, if you want to use
Test::Unit, you will have to change your tests (or code your new ones
differently). So I guess your question doesn't make a whole lot of sense
to me... if you want to try out Test::Unit, install it without the RU
compatibility, and use the Test::Unit API. If you don't like it, just
change the tests you wrote that use it back to the RU API.


> Can you help with that?  Thanks!

I hope this helps; let me know if anything's still unclear.


Nathaniel

<:((><
+ - -
| RoleModel Software, Inc.
| EQUIP VI