[Bitcoin-development] Seeking advice: Encouraging bug-fixing over new features

[Rick Wesson]

+1

Putting a bounty on the test framework might put some loose change to work.

http://code.google.com/p/googletest/ would be my choice

the list of c++ frameworks is at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unit_testing_frameworks#C.2B.2B

-rick

On Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 4:49 AM, Mike Hearn <mike at plan99.net> wrote:
> I've worked on open source projects for over 10 years now. This
> dynamic always exists but I've never seen it seriously kill a project.
>
> Thoughts:
>
>  - People who start out with features often stick around and become
> core contributors.
>  - Unit tests are critical.
>
> Now there's a basic skeleton for unit tests, the bug debt can start to
> be paid down by insisting that anyone who touches a piece of code
> introduces tests, whether it be for new features or refactorings.
> Insist patches won't be accepted without some new tests. In an
> untested codebase, adding or improving tests often reveals other bugs
> that then get fixed at the same time.
>
> People usually don't want to write tests if there's nothing there
> already. So I'd suggest seeding the test suite with a small number of
> simple tests for each part (wallet, net, db, etc). Once there are a
> few tests already it's easier to get people to add more. It's tempting
> to say, well, the wallet or re-org handling or whatever is the most
> critical so we'll write lots of tests for that first and do the rest
> later, but that's not as conducive to getting people to help.
>
> Most complex projects need some unit testing infrastructure to assist.
> For instance, the ability to use mock network connections or minimal
> difficulty chains. So if you build up that infrastructure and plant
> those seeds, it'll be easier for other people to flesh it out.
>
> Final thought - big test suites take a long time to grow, especially
> in codebases developed without them. A good start is a manually
> written test plan, that just walks you through the apps features.
> Insisting that a patch be signed off as passing the test plan is a
> good way to avoid gigantic breakages like the wallet encryption bug
> from cold start, at the cost of slowing down development (nobody likes
> doing manual test work over and over).
>
> I don't always follow my own advice on this and usually end up
> regretting it ....
>
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