Re: regression
On Mon, 24 Nov 1997, James R. Van Zandt wrote:
>
> Raul Miller <rdm@test.legislate.com> writes:
> >it occurs to me that we might
> >want to include regression tests in the standard package build
> >process.
>
> Excellent idea. The GNU coding standards suggest this Makefile target:
>
> `check'
> Perform self-tests (if any). The user must build the program
> before running the tests, but need not install the program; you
> should write the self-tests so that they work when the program is
> built but not installed.
>
> We could incorporate self-tests into the source package this way, and
> invoke them from debian/rules. Ideally, this should be fed to the
> upstream developer too.
>
Some packages already do this. Gmp provides, compiles, and runs a suite of
test programs at build time that check out the various major functions of
the library. Libident, on the other hand provides a program for testing it
after it is installed. For packages like libraries these sorts of tests
make sense. For packages like editors, and other application packages,
such test programs don't always make a lot of sense. (It is the created
binary program that you wish to test in this case)
While I agree that such test suites are a "good idea", it is not clear
that there is any "standard" way to impliment such tests. Each developer
must decide for his/her packages just what makes sense and has value.
In general, I would like to make a clear destinction between individual
package testing, (something I believe that individual developers are
responsible for with their own packages) and the integration testing of
the distribution that the testing team has been focused on in past testing
efforts. While I agree that the first is necessary, only the second
requires the degree of coordination provided by an "organization" with
"rules" and "guidelines".
Luck,
Dwarf
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