Introduction

I concluded this talk at the beginning by telling you about two different projects. The difference between the development in the parallel universes was that in one, there were developer tests, while in the other, there were not. In the project to develop the next RAA, those who picked up the dropped code were able to use the tests to understand the code, and they also had the confidence to change it even when they weren't completely sure what it said, because they knew the tests would catch anything that they broke. On the Rite project, a lot of work was done to get Rubicon up to snuff so that matz was able to use it to check compatibility with the old Ruby line.

These are 'imaginary' stories, but they hold a nugget of truth. This is an area where Ruby could truly set itself apart in a big way. What I would like to see is a culture of testing, where it permeates everything done in the Ruby community, not just at the implementation level, but also at the concept level. When things are discussed on the mailing list, we could use tests in our discussion. When a nuby asks a question, we could specify the answer with a test. The majority of the Ruby libraries could have tests, making it easier to write tests against them.

I go back to assertion #1, and the fact that those who test will come out on top. Ruby can come out on top in a big way, and it's such a simple thing to do. I'm certainly going to work for this... will you?

OK, down off the soap box, and lets answer some questions.