The 5 Rules of Simple RSpec Tests

The 5 “rules” I try to follow in order to write simple RSpec tests. Let’s GO. 1. Max 2 levels of describe/context nesting Everything above 2 is a code-smell and causes alarm bells in my head to ring. The more levels of nesting you have, the harder it is to understand what a given example is doing. If you add before/after hooks to the mix, it’ll become even worse. I often reduce nesting by simply using example descriptions like that:...

May 11, 2021 · 5 min · Peter Solnica

Yes, You Should Write Controller Tests!

It really surprises me that there are people arguing that writing controller tests doesn’t make sense. Probably the most common argument is that actions are covered in acceptence tests along with checking if views are properly rendered. Right? Right…well that’s just wrong! Are you trying to say that your slow acceptance tests are covering every possible controller action scenario? Are you trying to say that, for instance, every redirect that should take place is tested within an acceptance test?...

February 2, 2012 · 5 min · Peter Solnica

Custom RSpec-2 Matchers

RSpec is one of my favorite tools. I have literally fallen in love with this fantastic BDD library, especially with its second version. While using RSpec I realized it teaches me how to write tests. Yes, exactly - learning RSpec DSL, its syntax and structure of spec examples you actually learn the best practices in writing tests. RSpec, despite many built-in matchers, comes with a DSL for defining your own, custom matchers....

January 14, 2011 · 5 min · Peter Solnica