[Python-Dev] Re: [Python-checkins] python/dist/src/Lib/test test_compiler.py, 1.5, 1.6 test_decimal.py, 1.13, 1.14

[Tim Peters]

>> <rhettinger at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
>> Modified Files:
>>         test_compiler.py test_decimal.py
>> Log Message:
>> Change the strategy for coping with time intensive tests from
>> "all or none" to "all or some".
>>
>> This provides much greater test coverage without eating much time.
>> It also makes it more likely that routine regression testing will
>> unearth bugs.

[Jeremy Hylton]
> If the time is really a problem, I'd rather select a certain set of
> files to test all the times.  I'm interested in making sure the
> compiler is run against the widest possible range of language
> constructs, which plain old random testing isn't likely to do.
>
> I'd prefer, even, an option to enable random sampling for these tests.
> When I'm testing the compiler package, I really want to run the
> entire test, not a small part of it.

If you enable the compiler resource, the entire test is still run. 
Nothing changed there.  What changed is what happens if you don't
enable that resource:  before, test_compiler was skipped entirely;
after, test_compiler tries a small, random subset of files.