[Python-Dev] Breaking Test Cases on Purpose

[Greg Stein]

On Thu, Aug 03, 2000 at 12:54:55PM -0500, Guido van Rossum wrote:
> > Suppose I'm fixing a bug in the library. I want peer review for my fix,
> > but I need none for my new "would have caught" test cases. Is it
> > considered alright to check-in right away the test case, breaking the test
> > suite, and to upload a patch to SF to fix it? Or should the patch include
> > the new test cases? 
> > 
> > The XP answer would be "hey, you have to checkin the breaking test case
> > right away", and I'm inclined to agree.
> > 
> > I really want to break the standard library, just because I'm a sadist --
> > but seriously, we need tests that break more often, so bugs will be easier
> > to fix.
> 
> In theory I'm with you.  In practice, each time the test suite breaks,
> we get worried mail from people who aren't following the list closely,
> did a checkout, and suddenly find that the test suite breaks.  That
> just adds noise to the list.  So I'm against it.

Tell those people to chill out for a few days and not be so jumpy. You're
talking about behavior that can easily be remedied.

It is a simple statement about the CVS repository: "CVS builds but may not
pass the test suite in certain cases" rather than "CVS is perfect"

Cheers,
-g

-- 
Greg Stein, http://www.lyra.org/