Exploring Extreme Programming
We’ll look at two refactorings suitable for conditional statements: Pull Up Common Head of Conditional and Pull Down Common Tail of Conditional. I originally learned these as performance optimizations but they also help simplify and clarify code. In Refactoring, Martin Continue reading Refactoring: Pull Common Code from Conditional
In our final article in the series on testing graphics, we’ll look at testing internal objects (rather than testing at the display level). We’ll look at several decisions around testing.
Screen-Based Tests: Two Extremes Screen-based tests focus on what’s visible rather than internal representations. We’ll consider two extremes for testing screen-based output: fully manual and fully automated. Then we’ll look at moves that can help you evolve from one to Continue reading Screen-Based Tests: Testing Graphics, Part 3
Hacker’s Delight (2/e), by Henry S. Warren Jr., Addison-Wesley, 2012. Perhaps you’ve seen this trick for swapping two variables without using a temporary: x = x ^ y y = y ^ x x = x ^ y Or maybe Continue reading Hacker’s Delight (2/e) (Review)
In Part 1, we discussed models for graphics. As we move into testing, let’s start with the visible part: the display.
Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming, by Peter Seibel. ISBN 978-1-4302-1948-4. Peter Seibel interviews 15 programmers on a variety of topics. I liked the interviewing style: he asks a little biographical information, sprinkles in some standard questions Continue reading Coders at Work (Review)
Many applications work with graphics; applications with graphical user interfaces can’t escape them. We’ll look at several models for graphics, and in later articles explore how to test them.
Oracles are things that can tell us whether or not a result is correct. For some tests, an oracle is as simple as comparing a couple strings or numbers. Other tests have many acceptable results and it’s harder to know what’s right. I Continue reading Testing with Simple and Combinatorial Oracles
Kevin Rutherford and I wrote this article for Better Software magazine; it was the cover article in the July/August 20122 issue. It demonstrates refactoring in Ruby, using a basic “todo” list application. “When Software Smells Bad” (PDF), by Bill Wake Continue reading When Software Smells Bad
Structured Programming, by O.-J. Dahl, E.W. Dijkstra, and C.A.R. Hoare. Academic Press, 1972. This year (2012) is the 40th anniversary of this text, but it holds up well. It consists of three essays: “Notes on Structured Programming” by E.W. Dijkstra Continue reading Review: Structured Programming (Dahl, Dijkstra, and Hoare)