This document provides an overview of Spock, a Groovy-based testing and specification framework. It introduces Spock terminology like specifications, fixtures, and feature methods. It outlines how to start a Spock project with Maven or Gradle. It demonstrates writing simple specifications with features that use expect, when/then, and where blocks. It also covers interacting with collaborators, exceptions, shared objects, and useful extensions. Finally, it provides an example of integrating Spock with Geb for browser automation testing.

1. Workshop
SPOCK: Testing (in the) Enterprise!
Fernando Redondo Ramírez
@pronoide_fer

2. Roadmap

3. Whoami
• Entrepreneur and Business Manager at
Pronoide since 2003
• Currently working for Hybris (SAP) as
technical trainer
• Java & Friends trainer for last ten years
• Doing things with Java from 1999 on
• Computer Engineer
• Happily married and proud father of two
children
• Not that Trekky yet (Sure!)

4. Brief introduction
- Groovy based testing and
specification framework
- Can test anything that runs
inside the JVM (even Java)
- Beautiful and highly expressive specification
language
- Compatible with most IDEs, build tools, and
continuous integration servers (JUnit runner)

5. Terminology and definitions
- Spock lets you write specifications that
describe expected features (properties,
aspects) exhibited by a system of interest.
- The system of interest could be anything between a
single class and a whole application, and is also called
system under specification (SUS).
- The description of a feature starts from a specific
snapshot of the SUS and its collaborators; this
snapshot is called the feature’s fixture.
Brief introduction

6. How do I start with Maven?
-

7. How do I start with Gradle?

10. Hands on!
Before start, you have to…
1. Start Groovy/Grails Tool Suite 3.6 (GGTS) and create a workspace (remember to
run it with a JDK and install the gradle extension for eclipse). Groovy 2.4 compiler
as well.
2. Download http://pronoide.com/downloads/springio-workshop-2015.zip
and unzip it into workspace folder. Or take it from
https://github.com/fredondo/springio2015-spock-workshop
3. Hold on! Please wait me right here…

11. Stage I: Import the workshop project
i. Import gradle Project (enterprise.mission)

12. Specifications
Test classes are known as Specifications
- All specifications (Specs) must extend
from spock.lang.Specification
- Each specification must have at least ONE test
method, all of these are called feature methods
- The most simple assert within a feature method is
the expect block, all its sentences must be evaluated
to true so that the feature will be OK

13. A very simple specification
Specifications

14. Stage II: Creating Specs
Complete the following specification and acomplish the challenges
(org.startrek.challenges.n01.RacesSpec)

15. Did you get it right? (org.startrek.solutions.n01.RacesSpec)
Stage II: Creating Specs

16. Stage II: Creating Specs
• Run the spec class as JUnit test
• Or execute the test gradle task (gradle quick task launcher)

17. Specfication methods
Within any specification we can found:
- Feature methods (or test methods) with
diferent blocks of code for stating the scenario
under spec
- Fixture methods that will be called automatically
before or after any single feature methods or before
and after the specification:
- setup, cleanup, setupSpec and cleanupSpeck
- Helper methods that can be called at any time from
other methods and can be convenient for code clarity
and code reuse

18. Stage III: Inside the Specs
Complete the following specification and acomplish the challenge
(org.startrek.challenges.n02.VoyageSpec)

19. Stage III: Inside the Specs
This is not rocket science (org.startrek.solutions.n02.VoyageSpec)

20. Feature method blocks
Inside any feature method we can come
across different kinds of phases or blocks:
- setup and/or cleanup, at most once per spec, to
inicialise and dispose stuff for that particular feature
(don’t mix up with fixtures). The setup block can be
omitted or aliased with given for readability
purpouses. We can create kind of different given
sections with and
- An expect block may only contain conditions and
variable definitions. It is useful in situations where it is
more natural to describe stimulus and expected
response in a single expression

21. Stage IV: Inside the feature
Complete the following feature methods and probe your courage
(org.startrek.challenges.n03.SpaceshipSpec)

22. Easy peasy!! (org.startrek.solutions.n03.SpaceshipSpec)
Stage IV: Inside the feature

23. Feature method blocks
These are the kinds of blocks within a
feature method (continuation):
- when and then blocks always occur
together. They describe a stimulus and
the expected response
owhen blocks can contain arbitrary code
othen blocks are restricted to conditions, exception
conditions, interactions, and variable definitions (which
mean more options available than for expect blocks)
oThere can be multiples pair ocurrencies within a feature

24. Stage IV: Inside the feature
Fill in the next feature method if you dare!
(org.startrek.challenges.n03.StarfleetSpec)

25. It was piece of cake!! (org.startrek.solutions.n03.SpaceshipSpec)
Stage IV: Inside the feature

26. Feature method blocks
These are the kinds of blocks (cont.):
- A where block always comes last in a feature
method, and cannot be repeated. It is used to write data-driven
feature methods. As a matter of convenience it can be written in
two different ways:
- A row per variable with the << symbol
- A column per variable with the | symbol
- A data-drive feature method can also be annotated with @unroll
- the method will be invoked multiple times with the provider data
variables
- these can be used in the method description with placeholders (#)
- For each iteration the placeholders are replaced with correct values

27. Stage IV: Inside the feature
Things get tougher! (org.startrek.challenges.n03.WeaponsDamageSpec)

28. As easy as pie!! (org.startrek.solutions.n03.WeaponsDamageSpec)
Stage IV: Inside the feature

29. Testing exceptions
In order to deal with specification that
throw or not exceptions, Spock provides
the following exception conditions
- thrown(ExceptionClass) and notThrow(ExceptionClass)
- It’s also possible to get the exception instance, to
access its attributes:
def ex=thrown()

30. Stage V: Exception Conditions
Complete these features (org.startrek.challenges.n04.DestructionSpec)

31. Keep it up! (org.startrek.solutions.n04.DestructionSpec)
Stage IV: Inside the feature

32. Interaction-based testing is a design and
testing technique that focusing more on the
behavior of objects rather than their state, it
explores how the object(s) under spec interact, by way of
method calls, with their collaborators
o We need to mock the collaborator implementations via
def colaborator=Mock(Class) Or Class colaborator=Mock()
o Mocks are usually created using Dynamic Proxies or CGLib
o we can track interactions with collaborators within then block:
when:
spock.teletransport()
then:
1 * transporter.use()
Interactions

33. Stage VI: Interactions
Write down this feature method
(org.startrek.challenges.n05.ShipManagementSpec)

34. It’s not that complicated, is it?
(org.startrek.solutions.n05. ShipManagementSpec)
Stage VI: Interactions

35. Useful stuff
In our daily life with Spock, we´ll usually
make use of:
- Share objects among feature via @Shared class
attributes, other way they won’t share them
– There are two kinds of conditions to validate a feature: Implicit
and Explicit. Implicit conditions appear in expect and then blocks.
To use conditions in other places, you can use assert keyword
– Sometimes feature methods are large or contain duplicated code.
It can make sense to introduce helper methods
– Specifications as Documentation, Spock provides a way to attach
textual descriptions to blocks
When: “everything start”
– You can leverage the use of Hamcrest

36. Stage VI: Other mechanisms
In the following spec identify with comment which mechanisms are
used (org.startrek.challenges.n06.MoviesSpec)

37. No brainer (org.startrek.solutions.n06. MoviesSpec)
Stage VI: Other mechanisms

38. Extensions
Spock offers lots of functionality for specs. But, there is
always a time when something else is needed. Spock
provides an interception-based extension mechanism.
Extensions are activated by annotations called directives. These are
some directives:
- @Timeout Sets a timeout for execution of a feature or fixture
- @Ignore Ignores a feature method
- @IgnoreRest Ignores all feature methods not carrying this annotation
- @IgnoreIf To ignore a feature method under certain conditions
- @FailsWith Expects a feature method to complete abruptly
- @Requires To execute a feature method under certain conditions
- @Stepwise executes features in the order that they are declared
- @Title and @Narrative To attach a natural-language name to a spec
- @Issue indicates that a feature/spec relates to one/more issues in an external
tracking system
- @Subject To indicate one or more subjects of a spec
- Many more and you can also create your own ones.

39. Extensions
The Spock Spring extension allows Spock to integrate
with Spring's TestContext framework
- the extension uses Spring API
- change add dependencies to our build.gradle:
spock-spring, spring-context and spring-test

40. Stage VI: Extensions
Let’s leave that for another time… ;)

41. Extra ball: Geb!
Geb is a framework for automatization of
functional web testing. It is based on the
following technologies:
o Groovy Language (and it’s incredible with Spock)
o Selenium WebDriver
o JQuery CSS Content Selector
o Page Object Model
• To leveage it, we have to
• change add dependencies to our build.gradle:
testCompile 'org.gebish:geb-spock:0.10.0'
testCompile "org.seleniumhq.selenium:selenium-chrome-driver:2.43.1”
• Download and configure our driver (automated browser) in
src/test/resources/GebConfig.groovy

42. Create a simple driver configuration & download the driver
(src/test/resources/GebConfig.groovy)
Extra ball: Geb!

43. Let’s perform a search for apock in memory-alpha.org
(org.startrek.challenges.n07.WebNavigationSpec.groovy)
Extra ball: Geb!

44. That was great! But, Can YOU do it in a better way?
Extra ball: Geb!

45. Let’s keep it simple an reusable! Functional Spec.
(org.startrek.solutions.n07.WebNavigationSpec2.groovy)
Extra ball: Geb!

46. Let’s keep it simple an reusable! Reusable Page Model.
(org.startrek.solutions.n07. MemoryAlphaPage.groovy and
org.startrek.solutions.n07. MemoryAlphaResultsPage.groovy )
Extra ball: Geb!

47. And that’s it. Thanks!
• @pronoide_fer
• https://github.com/fredondo/
• fredondo@pronoide.com
• http://pronoide.com
• http://blog.pronoide.es