> You start writing assert fibonacci(15) == ... and already you’re forced to think. What does fibonacci(15) equal? If you already know, terrific—but what are you meant to do if you don’t?
Um …duh? Get out a calculator. Consult a reference, etc. Otherwise compute the result, and ensure you've done that correctly, ideally as independent of the code under test as possible. A lot of even mathematical stuff has "test vectors"; e.g., the SHA algorithms.
> Here’s how you’d do it with an expect test:
printf "%d" (fibonacci 15);
[%expect {||}]
> The %expect block starts out blank precisely because you don’t know what to expect. You let the computer figure it out for you. In our setup, you don’t just get a build failure telling you that you want 610 instead of a blank string. You get a diff showing you the exact change you’d need to make to your file to make this test pass; and with a keybinding you can “accept” that diff. The Emacs buffer you’re in will literally be overwritten in place with the new contents:
…you're kidding me. This is "fix the current state of the function — whether correct or not — as the expected output."
Yeah… no kidding that's easier.
We gloss over errors — "some things just looked incorrect" — well, but how do you know that any differently than fib(10)?
Um …duh? Get out a calculator. Consult a reference, etc. Otherwise compute the result, and ensure you've done that correctly, ideally as independent of the code under test as possible. A lot of even mathematical stuff has "test vectors"; e.g., the SHA algorithms.
> Here’s how you’d do it with an expect test:
> The %expect block starts out blank precisely because you don’t know what to expect. You let the computer figure it out for you. In our setup, you don’t just get a build failure telling you that you want 610 instead of a blank string. You get a diff showing you the exact change you’d need to make to your file to make this test pass; and with a keybinding you can “accept” that diff. The Emacs buffer you’re in will literally be overwritten in place with the new contents:…you're kidding me. This is "fix the current state of the function — whether correct or not — as the expected output."
Yeah… no kidding that's easier.
We gloss over errors — "some things just looked incorrect" — well, but how do you know that any differently than fib(10)?