All posts by Jon Reid
Your TDD Will Improve as Your Design Sense Improves
When you’re new to Test-Driven Development, there’s a strong tendency to continue writing code the way you used to. Then you step back and ask, “But how can you unit test this? TDD is so impractical!”
Almost always, my answer is: “Then don’t write it like that.”
Candy Colored Ropes by Derek Bruff, used under CC BY-NC 2.0
Apple recently published a blog post, Working with JSON in Swift. I was looking for tips on Swift JSON parsing, and found the beginning of the article quite helpful. But it took a bad turn at the end…
Have You Wished You Could Fake a Return Value in Swift?
I’ve shown you how to replace real objects with fakes in Swift, so that you can begin creating useful mock objects. We did this by moving away from a concrete type to a protocol. Anything that implements the protocol will work, so fakes are no problem.
But what do we do when we can’t change the signature? How do we substitute fake arguments, or a fake return value?
It’s time to talk about partial mocks in Swift.
Half mask 20 by Jeff Jacobson-Swartfager, used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
How to Design Swift Mock Objects
Last time, we looked at How Does Swift Support Stubbing and Mocking? Swift’s extension declaration opens the way, letting us attach new protocols to existing classes. That much is well-known in the Swift community.
But then what? How do we create useful mock objects? I’ve seen many examples that are okay… to start with. But in the long run, I’m afraid they’ll fall short for ongoing maintenance.
Army twins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., natives serve in Iraq by dvids, used under CC BY 2.0
I wrote OCMockito because I wanted Objective-C mock objects that struck a better balance between “precise” and “forgiving”. I also wanted test code that was easier to read and write. What can we do with Swift mock objects?
How Does Swift Support Stubbing and Mocking?
You’re writing a unit test in Swift. You feel the need to avoid interactions with a real object. You want to provide a fake object, or a “test double” (like a stunt double). But Swift is strict about types! What do we do?
I do all my own stunts by Scott Swigart, used under CC BY-SA 2.0
I Found a Design Pattern for Tests that Do Real Networking
I try to avoid asynchronous tests because they’re slow. But sometimes they’re worth having. When you do have them, it’s worth spending extra effort to make them as fast as possible.
My mistake was that I only focused on the speed of the happy path. Today, I learned a way to improve the speed of failure scenarios, at least around testing network requests.
Dilemma by Niels Sienaert, used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
I’m Pretty Sure Most of Us Are Wrong about XCTestCase tearDown…
Since 2001, I’ve relied on an understanding of test execution flow in xUnit frameworks. But somewhere along the way, my understanding of the XCTestCase life cycle got messed up. I picked up an assumption that’s just wrong.
At best, it’s an assumption that can bloat our test runs. At worst, it can wreak havoc.
Danger Zone by Alexander Svensson, used under CC BY 2.0
When is an XCTestCase deallocated?
This is the big question. I had it right for a long time, but then I lost it.
Where Will Jon Be in Fall of 2016?
Do you enjoy conferences and workshops? I’m looking forward to attending, teaching, and speaking at these events in the fall of 2016…
Developing a Design Sense for Your Code
That’s perhaps a code smell by Sumeet Moghe, used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
First up is something I’m attending.
How Can Swift Language Features Improve Testability?
I learned how to write testable code in C++ and Objective-C. But what about Swift?
The features and the overall “feel” of a language can have a big impact on how we express our code. Many of you know this well, because you started Swift early, and are miles ahead of me. I’m delighted to play catch-up. Swift’s features are like new toys! …But how do they affect testability?
Chocolate Tools by Janne Moren, used under CC BY-SA 2.0
TDD Sample App: The Complete Collection …So Far
When I began my TDD Sample App, my hope was that it would help us explore a number of topics around TDD and Clean Code.
On one hand, the app itself has barely progressed. However, the blog posts cover a surprising variety of topics.
Rubik’s Cube by Sonny Abesamis, used under CC BY 2.0
This Is One Weird Trick for Improving Your Code — Really
You face a problem with your code. Maybe something is bugging you about the design approach. Or maybe you’re just plain stuck. What can you do to break through a mental block?
free your mind by justanotherhuman, used under CC BY-NC 2.0 / Cropped from original
During one job interview, I remember asking how the candidate approached problem solving. That candidate’s answer has stuck with me over the years: