declaration of variables?

[Jp Calderone]

On Sun, Feb 16, 2003 at 09:36:00PM +0100, Andr? Jonsson wrote:
> Jp Calderone wrote:
> >
> >  I don't understand what this even means.  If the error isn't
> >  *detectable*, it obviously isn't even an error.
> 
> Hmm, how about this example: if a given function sorts some list, if there
> is an error in there that doesn't cause a run-time error. How is it
> possible to detect this without having to write the whole routine once
> more and compare the results? (which, of course, is an error-prone
> process).
> 

  For this specific case, by relying on the high-level functionality
provided by Python.

  def testSuperSortFunction(self):
      L1 = superSortFunction(testList)
      L2 = testList[:]
      L2.sort()
      self.assertEquals(L1, L2)


  Perhaps you might transform a list in some much more complex way, though,
for which there is no Python builtin.  In this case, one common solution is
to compute the output for a particular group of inputs yourself, or using a
known-correct piece of software, and then compare against this pre-computed
data in your unit tests.  Selecting the inputs is important, of course, for
if you miss a particular branch of your algorithm, you will have failed to
test it for correctness.

  This all seems pretty far afield, though.  I can't think of any time when
a typo in a variable has led to a -subtle- error.  Invariably, this kind of
error leads to gross misfunction of part of the program, often resulting in
a cascade of unit test failures that screams out that something has broken.

  Jp

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