Testing as Communication, Real-World Techniques

Testing as Communication Real-World Techniques Jon “Lark” Larkowski @L4rk Sunday, March 1, 2009 1

Walk of the Talk • Subset of Obie’s The Hashrocket Way talk • Our tools & techniques • How they support communication • And save time & money • At the end: where we’re headed… Sunday, March 1, 2009 2

We value agility & transparency… Therefore, we value testing & communication… And, this all saves you cash money, ideally… The Way Sunday, March 1, 2009 3

Test • All the f-ing time. (Hi, Bryan!) • If we test all the time… • And testing is communication… • Then we… Sunday, March 1, 2009 4

Communicate • All the f-ing time. • (Only if we keep the overhead low.) • There’s three lines of communication... 1. C2D: client to developer 2. D2D: developer to developer 3. DnD: [not covered in this talk] Sunday, March 1, 2009 5

Fiscal Responsibility • Testing is communication • Both are “baked in” to our agile process • That is, with low overhead • This saves you dough • Walk through our process, ﬁrst tool is... Sunday, March 1, 2009 6

Pivotal Tracker • We live in it. • Who’s using it? • We don’t code unless it’s for a story. • Let’s look at some screenshots... Sunday, March 1, 2009 7

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Pivotal Tracker • Communication aspects... • C2D: transparency, scheduling • D2D: estimation, who's doing what right now Sunday, March 1, 2009 10

Pivotal Tracker • Fiscal aspects… • Real-time web collaboration lowers overhead, both to clients at-distance, and developer across room • Reporting & projection tools allow for reasonable estimates, off real-world data • So that’s Tracker, but at its core it’s all about… Sunday, March 1, 2009 11

Stories • All our work is driven by stories. • Stories are like tiny use cases. • Really, stories are tests. • Because they contain acceptance criteria. Sunday, March 1, 2009 12

Stories • Communication aspects... • C2D: stories are tokens of a conversation • D2D: make sure to write stories at a level developer can actually implement Sunday, March 1, 2009 13

Stories • Techniques we use… • Direct capture to Tracker • Standard forms: In order to / As a / I want to Given / When / Then • Written together with client, with close developer aide Sunday, March 1, 2009 14

Stories • Fiscal aspects… • Well, they’re a part of agile in general • Delivery working software early & often • Constant cost of change • Tight response to change • Ability to recoup investment at any time • So, that’s stories. Now, when we actually start coding stories, we… Sunday, March 1, 2009 15

Pair all the f-ing time. Sunday, March 1, 2009 16

Pair Programming • Communication aspects… • Who’s pairing? (Some, most, all.) • Hopefully, you know the beneﬁts already. • D2D: keep focused, honest, high quality • D2C: redundancy, bus sensitivity Sunday, March 1, 2009 17

Pair Programming • Techniques we use… • Two developers, one screen. • Ping Pong, both metaphorical and literal… • Daily stand-ups Sunday, March 1, 2009 18

We take ping pong very seriously. Sunday, March 1, 2009 19

Get up, stand up... Sunday, March 1, 2009 20

Pair Programming • Fiscal aspects… • Oh, boy. • I could tell you, “Studies show…” • Or I could just tell you, “Do it.” • “No, no. Seriously. Do it.” Sunday, March 1, 2009 21

Testing • Communication aspects… • C2D: express stories as acceptance criteria, then tests (MVC tests) • D2C: RSpec specdoc format, cucumber • D2D: more durable system speciﬁcation • Examples… Sunday, March 1, 2009 23

Testing Techniques we use… • • RSpec Selenium • • MVC, yes... V RSpactor • • Factory Girl/Object Daddy Continuous Integration • • Cucumber Clicking on stuff Sunday, March 1, 2009 26

Testing • Fiscal aspects… • Who’s heard, “We don’t have time to test!” • Quit that job, immediately. • Unless it’s Obie who says it. • You don’t have time not to test. Sunday, March 1, 2009 27

Testing • Fiscal aspects continued… • Respond to change quickly, be more daring in your refactorings • Less regression, no rework ﬁxing old bugs • Supports collective ownership, guards against misuse • Serves as built-in documentation (low overhead) • Supports continuous integration and deliverability… Sunday, March 1, 2009 28

Continuous Delivery • All the f-ing time. • We deliver ﬁnished stories multiple times a day. • Communication aspects… • C2D: very tight feedback loop with client • D2D: smoke test together to demo features Sunday, March 1, 2009 29

Continuous Delivery • Techniques we use… • The usual, capistrano • Supported by continuous integration • Deploy to Engine Yard staging slice • Also, Amazon EC2 instances Sunday, March 1, 2009 30

Continuous Delivery • Fiscal aspects… • Respond to market, recoup investment at any time, when it makes business sense, or you run out of money, or ﬁnd better things to do with it • Once we’ve delivered… Sunday, March 1, 2009 31

Client Acceptance • The Final Test • Communication aspects… • C2D: you’re doing it wrong • C2D: you’re doing it right Sunday, March 1, 2009 32

ur doin it rong Sunday, March 1, 2009 33

Client Acceptance • Techniques we use… • Developer-assisted acceptance • Ideally, on-site • Video chats • Daily stand-up Sunday, March 1, 2009 34

Client Acceptance • Fiscal aspects… • Verify you got what you paid for • Sooner rather than later • Change direction anytime • So, that’s what we’re up to now… Sunday, March 1, 2009 35

Where We’re Headed • Jakob Nielsen says, waterfall method user specs are always wrong • And I tend to agree with him • The Vision: machine-executable stories & acceptance criteria • …but ﬁrst—let’s talk about circuits. • Yup, circuits… Sunday, March 1, 2009 36

Impedance Matching for Max Power Transfer (And, maximum awesome.) • Client vs. Developer vs. Code vs. Testing • All have a little different perspective • Goal: max power transfer • Turn cash into code • Any EE’s in audience? Cut me some slack. • Allow me to blow your mind... Sunday, March 1, 2009 37

Impedance Matching… sorta (Also, the worst circuit diagram, evar.) Geek Automated 2 Integration Tests English (Cucumber) Client Speaks English MVC Tests You Speak Geek Regular Code + - Sunday, March 1, 2009 38

OMGWTFBBQ!? Sunday, March 1, 2009 39

In conclusion... Sunday, March 1, 2009 40

Testing Talks, Money Walks Jon “Lark” Larkowski Stay metal. (Thank you.) (Also, speed metal rules.) Sunday, March 1, 2009 41

Testing as Communication, Real-World Techniques

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