Testing, Performance Analysis and jQuery 1.4
Published February 22nd, 2010 Under Open Source Tools | Leave a Comment
In the first part of the talk, John reviewed the range of tools available to frontend engineers for unit testing and for analyzing the performance of code. In the latter case, he argues for going beyond pure speed-based benchmarks to structural analyses of performance. By looking at structure, the jQuery team was able to identify and correct bottlenecks, resulting in major performance improvements in the upcoming 1.4 release. In the second part of the talk (beginning at 49:20 in the video), John reviews some of those jQuery 1.4 changes. In the short third section (beginning at 1:03:15), he looks at some interesting trends he’s noticed in the practical application of new HTML 5 elements — especially in older browsers.
Using Cucumber for BDD and Agile Acceptance Testing
Published February 18th, 2010 Under Agile, Open Source Tools | Leave a Comment
Cucumber is a tool that can execute plain-text functional descriptions as automated tests. The language that Cucumber understands is called Gherkin. While Cucumber can be thought of as a “testing” tool, the intent of the tool is to support BDD. This means that the “tests” (plain text feature descriptions with scenarios) are typically written before anything else and verified by business analysts, domain experts, etc. non technical stakeholders. The production code is then written outside-in, to make the stories pass. Cucumber itself is written in Ruby, but it can be used to “test” code written in Ruby or other languages including but not limited to Java, C# and Python. Cucumber only requires minimal use of Ruby programming and Ruby is easy, so don’t be afraid even if the code you’re developing in is not Ruby. Gojko will demonstrate how to use Cucumber for Java, .NET and Ruby applications, talk about new Cucumber features and best practices for writing and maintaining Cucumber scenarios.
http://skillsmatter.com/podcast/agile-testing/using-cucumber-for-bdd-and-agile-acceptance-testing
Listening to Test Smells
Published February 18th, 2010 Under Agile, Open Source Tools | Leave a Comment
This talk is about how to use the stresses of writing unit tests to improve your code. If I’m having trouble writing tests, it’s often because the design of my target code can be improved. The trick is to listen to the tests and let them drive my development — that’s a hint as to why it’s called Test-Driven Development. As a developer, you can sensitise yourself to find the rough edges in your tests and use them for rapid feedback about how to improved the design of your code. In this talk, I will work through examples of “smelly” tests, showing how they highlight design flaws and suggest improvements.
Watch this video on JavaZone (click on “Presentation”)
Extending Continuous Integration
Published February 16th, 2010 Under Agile, Configuration Management, Open Source Tools | Leave a Comment
The talk shows how we can implement a rigorous, yet agile process. It is based around our experiences of putting the good idea of continuous integration and other agile methods into life and using this as the basis not just for the technical process, but for the whole improvement program for our organization. We have expanded our process to cover simulated production as a part of the testing effort. This way, we can guarantee that the actual delivery day will be uneventful. The audience will come away from the talk with a good idea on how to improve their build process. The talk will cover both practical aspects, architectural changes that improves continuous integration, and what change you need to make in your organization to streamline the value chain from a code change to production readiness.
Watch this video on JavaZone (click on “Presentation”)
Linus Torvalds on git
Published February 16th, 2010 Under Configuration Management, Open Source Tools | Leave a Comment
Linus Torvalds visits Google to share his thoughts on git, the source control management system he created two years ago.
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