Some thoughts on testing.. 5
http://blog.edgecase.com/2009/6/2/a-rant-about-testing
It got me thinking about my feelings on testing in general. Yes, I'll raise my hand, I'm totally not the best person to talk to for being thorough with my testing. Honestly, I'm just not drawn to it. The way I learn new technologies and develop software is very much reactionary to a personal drive to do or build a given thing. Something in my head tells me that I need to drive a certain thing into the ground, and then I just do. Unfortunately, testing doesn't seem to get first billing with that drive. I have to say though, once I get into it I can in fact make good thorough tests and they inevitably save me later. Its just getting that kick-start to go down the road of testing is the tough part.
My worst flaw by far, though, is that while I may test a feature and ensure that it works how I intended it, I don't necessarily create a "Test" for that feature. What I mean by this is that someone who is not me, can't just run a test script to re-do my method of testing, and see if any changes have broken things. If i could get into that habit in general, whether it be at integration or lower, I'd probably be way better off when i start making some serious Rails applications. That or I need to find me a Testing Monkey. Someone who, for whatever reason, doesn't want to build things, but instead wants to break things.
Yeah I think i really need to go the route of a test monkey, that's the ticket....
