Oddlabs Forum

I've recently started a new contract where they use Apache trac, Maven, EasyMock (mock out objects for unit test), and Continuum (continuous integration) and plunged head deep into the world of test-driven development. In the past, I've had my fair share of experiences with JUnit writing "send this - get this back" type of integration/unit test, but this does not compare to the amount of time I'm spending on writing unit, external integration, internal integration, and functional type of tests. While I understand there purposes, I am also noticing an ugly side to it where programmers are reluctant to refactor code (that should be refactored) because of the amount of test code that must be modified.

I was wondering how are your projects set up for testing/packaging for release/etc? Your tip on deterministic programming is a great way to capture bugs, but do you guys have any other tips on keeping your project organized and under control?

Thanks for your time!

Not really. We aren't all that organized when it comes to testing. On the other hand, we aren't afraid of refactoring and do it quite often (when necessary).

- Sune

As always, thanks for the quick response!

With another couple of weeks at my new job site, I'm still not sold on writing so much test code. While I find value in some of it, I don't agree with the all-or-nothing 100% code coverage.

Would it be true to say you guys rely extensively on Assert statements and the deterministic approach?

You could say that.
Since we can easily release updates for the game, we work by the philosophy that if something happens that is not supposed to happen, then rather crash the game and get a bug report, than let the error go unnoticed and possibly evolve into something much harder to debug. Of course this might not be the best approach for an offline console game that cannot easily be patched.

- Sune